These are the Days of our Lives

Retiring the Family Blog

2010-05-21T21:38:00.005-07:00

I've decided to simplify my life. From now on, I'm going to be a one-blog woman. For years, I've kept two blogs. This "family" blog that I would update occasionally when there was a special occasion or whatnot....and a "journal blog" that I would post in daily with mostly boring details of my life and the occasional triumph or tragedy thrown in to keep it interesting. Well, the family blog is going to be retired and I'm only going to post in the daily blog. The address is ilovescotchtape.blogspot.com if anyone cares to know what's going on...that's the place to find out! I just updated it with details of nursing graduation. That was kind of a big deal for me...:) Peace out family blog!!

Fourteen

2010-04-15T14:56:00.002-07:00

I let my son Gage's FOURTEENTH birthday come and go with out mentioning this important milestone on the ol blog. In fact, I just realized this is the ONLY picture I got of him on his special day....and now that I think about it this picture was actually taken a couple days BEFORE his birthday. Whoops a daisy. In my defense, the computer had a virus and was non-functional for awhile. I have no excuse for not taking two dozen pictures like I usually do. I can only say that even though the kid is stuck with a mom that is highly distracted and stressed out lately....his mom still loves him dearly and wishes he would just stop growing up. Literally...STOP growing because it's weird to have a son so much taller than me. It's going too fast! Just stop all ready! Happy B-day Gage!

Turning EIGHT is GREAT! ...(mostly)

2010-03-27T19:53:00.012-07:00

I can hardly believe my Avy is turning eight years old! That really snuck up on me! A couple days ago, she and I were discussing her upcoming birthday and how she wanted to celebrate it. The thought of planning and executing a birthday party right now gave me a mild case of hives. Not really, but it did elevate my anxiety up a notch. I just don't have it in me right now... what with the three huge tests and one huge presentation that I have to do in the next three weeks. So she and I had a conversation...it went like this....

Me: "Hey, Avy...how would you feel about spending an ENTIRE day with me doing WHATEVER you want instead of having a birthday party?"
Avery: "A whole day? Could we go to Build-A- Bear?"
Me: We can do whatever you want! Just me and you...all day."
Avery: "But then I don't get a party?"
Me: "That's right..no party...but we could see a movie and go and get your ears pierced!" (I was getting desperate at this point because I didn't think she was going for it.)
Avery:" Really!? Ok! That's way better than a party!"

Yay! I was so relieved that I didn't have to figure out a birthday party! Not that it's hard mind you... I just don't have time....and I didn't feel like it. So yesterday was our big day. She had a list of things she wanted to do. We left first thing in the morning.
First stop...Krispy Kreme... for a Chocolate Glazed donut. Nice way to start the outing.

Second stop...Circle K to get a beverage. We knew we'd work up a thirst so we started the outing off right with a Cherry Slushy and Diet Dr. Pepper. So far...the day is going awesome!

Next, Avery wanted to go to the comic store to get the new Archie comic. She loves those comic books!
After the comic store, we headed over to the mall. It was just opening so I asked her if she was ready to get her ears pierced. She kind of hesitated...which was surprising. She's been begging to have her ears pierced since she was four years old. If it was up to me she would have had it done when she was a baby but unbeknownst to me, I married a man that has strong feelings about piercings on little girls. It's one of those things that don't come up while you're dating. I had no idea he had such ridiculous...I mean strong...beliefs about pierced ears! :) I've been working on him for years to agree that there's nothing wrong with a little girl wearing earrings. When Avery turned four she started working on him, too. Finally, we wore him down and he agreed that 8 years old is a reasonable age to have your ears pierced. Avery was so excited...till it came right down to actually doing it. I could tell she was having second thoughts so I decided not to rush her. We did the next thing on the list..which was Build-A-Bear.
She picked the Brittany chipmunk. No surprise there. Next, she wanted to go get a Happy Meal from McDonalds.

After she ate, we just wandered around looking in different stores. She still wasn't ready. I called my mom and sister who came down to meet us for moral support for Avery. As soon as they showed up, she put on a brave face and said she was ready to do it. So we quickly went to the store and she picked out the cute pink flower earrings. This is her waiting while the lady gets all the stuff ready. Bless her nervous heart.

One final picture of earring-less lobes!
At first...all went well. The girl did the first ear...and Avery was fine. She didn't seem bothered at all.

So, before we knew it, the other ear was done as well.

She handled it really well and looked so cute in her new earrings! She was happy...all was well. Until it wasn't.

The girl wanted me to practice cleaning the earlobes so when we got home we'd know what to do. No problem....until the right earring back popped off and the earring started to come out. So the earring lady ( should have got her name) had to put the earring back in...by hand. This is when Avery started to go down hill. It really hurt her. I'm not sure what happened next. I think Avery just started thinking about what just went down combined with the pain of having her try to put the earring back in.... those two things didn't sit well with her.

She started to cry..She said she didn't feel so well......

Then she started sweating and got REALLY HOT!!!!

Then she turned white as a ghost and seemed kind of out of it. I left her in good hands with my mom and sister and I went to pay at the register. This is when all heck broke loose. She sat there for awhile and then she got up to leave. Next thing I know I hear a CRASH and see Avery walk smack dab into a display case full of earrings. I yelled "Avery! You need to sit down!" so she turned around and walked STRAIGHT into a different display case full of bracelets and necklaces, crashing into it and sending jewelry flying in all directions. This is when I grabbed her and walked her to sit down against a wall. I could tell she was about to pass out. She had a weird look on her face...like the lights were on but nobody was home. She told me that she was blind!! I told her she wasn't blind but she was about to faint. After sitting for a few seconds, her vision came back but she still seemed kind of out of it. The girl that pierced her ears said "I've never had anyone do that before!!" In all the chaos of trying to get her on the floor so she didn't pass out we didn't get a picture of the aftermath and the jewelry all knocked off the displays. Thankfully, Tia cleaned up the store while I finished paying and getting Avery back on her feet.

Well, the whole thing really put a damper on our fun day. And it was going so well! Avery was NOT happy.We kept assuring her that her new earrings were SO cute but she wasn't having any of it. She didn't even want to look in the mirror and see them!We bought her a Cinnabon to try to cheer her up and to get some sugar in her system. I thought that would do the trick because let's face it...there's not a lot of things that can't be fixed with a good Cinnabon cinnamon roll.

She ate the middle out of the cinnamon roll but was still feeling sad. We also noticed a bruise forming where she hit her face when she ran into the display case. Oh, so sad. So so sad! We couldn't help but get the giggles. That made Avery even sadder. What kind of mother laughs when her daughter almost blacks out in a jewelry store and knocks earrings and bracelets every which way!? A bad mother...but I couldn't help it. It was funny!Next stop on Operation Cheer Avery Up was to look at the puppies. I thought for sure that a cute puppy would do what a cinnamon roll could not. And it did...sort of. She started feeling better in the pet shop.

Then she announced that she would feel even BETTER if she could get the new Barbie mermaid that she's been wanting! So to save our special day, we parted ways with Bommy and Tia and we went to Target so she could get her Barbie. After we left Target she said that she was feeling MUCH better. Thank goodness! Barbie saved the day.

The last thing on Avery's list was to go and see How to Train a Dragon in 3D. I asked her if she wanted to skip this and just go home. It had been a rough day after all. She assured me she was feeling fine and wanted to go. So we did.....

What a cute show! I loved it! All in all it was a GREAT day. Just me and my special Avy. In spite of the mishap with the piercing Avery told me that it was "the greatest day of her life!" So I call that a success. We managed to do everything on her list. On the way home she said "Mama? Why didn't you tell me that you go blind when you get your ears pierced?" She cracks me up! Even though she was serious! I had to laugh. Happy Birthday, Avery!

After my day with Avery, I came home and got cleaned up to go and celebrate with another birthday girl. Yesterday was my sisters birthday and she wanted to go out to eat at Benihanas for dinner. That place is fun! Good choice, Tia!

The birthday girl who may or may not have turned an age that starts with a 3. I would never out her like that and actually say. That would be wrong. ( Justin's finger...pointing to my lovely scar)
Our chef was hilarious..even though I think he was faking his accent. He entertained us the whole evening and he cooked up some amazing food...so I'll forgive it.

We had the funnest night! We'd never been there before and I was pleasantly surprised! Happy Birthday to Tia...a girl that may or may not be entering a new phase of her life that starts with a "3".

Off-Roading Adventures in Box Canyon

2010-03-15T11:25:00.015-07:00

I've been sick this last week and feeling pretty sorry for myself. I can't lay in bed another second or I'll go crazy so I thought I could at least sit here at the computer and upload pictures from our trip last weekend! So I did...lots and lots of pictures!!

It's been about 18 years since I've been off-roading. I think the last time was in college and it ended badly with someone getting hurt. So I wasn't really in a hurry to do it again. When my sister told me about this cool place they had found up in Box Canyon, I decided to load up the kids in the car and take them on "an adventure!" (That's what Delly calls anything new that we do.) None of the kids have ever done anything like this and it definitely was an ADVENTURE! The girls all loaded into the back of the Samuri (a.k.a. Benny Ninja) while Gage thought he was pretty hot stuff since Eric allowed him to drive the Rhino.
The girls let me squeeze into the backseat with them ...
There were some tight spots where we weren't at all sure that the Jeep would be able to make it

I mean some REALLY tight spots! I remember thinking "no way...this is where we stop cause there's NO way!"
Even when Justin let the air out of the tires I still thought it was NOT gonna happen.
It was pretty hairy but somehow they made it through and we continued on up into Box Canyon. O ye of little faith....
Another tight squeeze....

We did see an eagles nest high up on the side of the cliff. The kids got a kick out of that. Mindy and Eric said they saw it flying around last time they were up there. The kids all kept a sharp eye out for it but we never saw it....

Gage surprised me with his driving skills...he really did a good job! I'm still glad he has a couple years before he can get a drivers licence, though.

Drey wanted so badly to explore the cave behind him but unfortunately it was FULL of bees and beehives. The kids crazy but not THAT crazy!

We took a break at the Natural Bridge and someone got the idea to climb up there. (It wasn't my idea. I'm a smidge of a worry wart and I was so afraid someone would get hurt!)

Despite my natural tendency to imagine the worst like someone falling off a cliff or something, I agreed to the climb. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Nobody fell and cracked their head open or slipped and fell or anything of the sort.
Even my mom with her man-made knee was able to make it to the top!

Coming down was a bit scarier..especially for Delly. Thank goodness for big brothers who'll carry little sisters that refuse to wear their tennis shoes and insist on wearing their Wizard of Waverley Place slippers which have no traction! Seriously.
Safely at the bottom.....

There are lots of places in Box Canyon where you can find geodes. Eric came prepared with a ladder because some of the places are hard to get to.
We found TONS of GEODES! Here's some pictures of just a few...

My mom found the biggest one by far! It was huge and it was heavy. She wanted to take it home to give to my dad who loves this kind of thing. The problem...it was HEAVY.

Luckily, she has a grandson who can be bribed with the promise of a trip to Famous Daves if he'll carry the huge thing out of the canyon.

We found a nice little spot in the shade to have a picnic lunch. We had packed up sack lunches for everyone to make it easy (way to THINK, Mindy!) Why are picnic lunches so much tastier than a lunch eaten at home!?
The boys found some geodes in the rock wall by where we had lunch. They did their best to hack them out of the side of the cliff with their screwdrivers and hammers.

Where's Avery???
Justin's neice, Joslyn came along for the ride. She chose this over going to the mall. I have to admit this was WAY funner than hanging out at the mall. Then again, I'm not a cute teenager.
Time to head home. On the way out, we were in the rear so I got a different viewpoint.....
All the places where it was hairy getting IN were still hairy getting OUT. We managed, thankfully. Especially since a rainstorm was coming in.

One last group picture at the bottom of Box Canyon. A big THANKS to the Richards for inviting us on such a fun adventure. Surprisingly enough, there was not one injury throughout the entire day! We did get rained on a little on the way home but nothing disasterous! My kids thought it was the greatest day ever and can't wait to do it again!

Robby And Elizabeth

2010-03-11T20:59:00.009-07:00

Today was a big day for our nephew Robby and his beautiful new bride Elizabeth. It had been awhile since I attended a temple sealing and it was a beautiful one! It was weird for me to see Robby getting married, though! Robby!? He was just a little boy when I joined the family...like four or five. And now he's married? Time marches on...and makes me feel like it's all going too fast! Here are a few highlights of the day....

Aren't they just the cutest?!

At the reception they had a four piece orchestra playing and Delly and Lexi took the opportunity to get their dance on.

It was pretty hilarious. They were dancing right in the middle of the walkway and kept bumping into people but they were having so much fun I couldn't bring myself to stop them. Sometimes a girls just gotta DANCE! Their fun came to a screeching halt when Delly fell down during a particularly difficult twirl and leap and she scraped her knee and leg. That was it for the dancing.

We like our chips and salsa and bean dip in this family! Yes we do...
Avery was so excited to go and see Elizabeth in her "princess dress". It was a great day but an exhausting one. I wasn't feeling 100% and then throw in a midterm and two parent teacher conferences along with the sealing, luncheon and reception and by the end of it all I think we were all pooped. But I'm glad I got to see Robby and Elizabeth tie the knot and remember when I did it almost 17 years ago! I'm still glad I chose this boy.....

That's My Boy Right There...

2010-02-26T19:56:00.005-07:00

It's always a proud moment for me when Drey is willing (and able) to get up in front of hundreds of people and play piano in a recital. Maybe because the memory of the stark terror I felt when I had to perform in piano recitals is still pretty vivid. My hatred of "the recital" is the reason I quit taking lessons when I was a youngster. I wish I could have kept taking lessons and not had to perform but I guess that kind of defeats the purpose of learning...which would be to play for people! Anyways, tonight was Drey's piano recital where he performed Minuet in G by Bach. He did awesome, like he always does. It makes the whole year of harping on him to practice and driving him to lessons at 7AM on Thursday mornings before school and paying $50 a month all worth it. This one night every year is what motivates me to continue doing it for ANOTHER year.

Drey has the perfect piano teacher. And I'm not just saying that because she's my friend. She knows just how to handle Drey..and motivate him. We were lucky that she was willing to take Drey into her very busy piano lesson schedule. I'm one proud mama tonight....

Mormon Wine

2010-02-20T20:36:00.006-07:00

Here's a big shout out to our new great friends, Spencer and Melinda. Thanks for having us over to your lovely home and feeding us yummy fondue and other delicious goodies. Thank you Spencer for sharing your "Mormon Wine" (also known as Jugo do Uva).

Things did get a little wild and crazy after the Mormon wine got passed around. I'm just sayin....

It was delightful to hang out and eat and laugh and play games. Thanks to the Lindahls for hosting and for being extremely kind and not kicking us out when midnight rolled around and we were all still in their home. I do believe a good time was had by all...... in spite of the double dipping incident.

Disney On Ice

2010-01-16T14:03:00.004-07:00

My girlies finally got to do something they've be DYING to do...go see Disney on Ice. Everytime the commercial would come on they would ask when we could go and I would always reply with a vague "oh yeah...that would be fun". Never committing to it but not dashing their hopes either. So when my mother-in-law called and said she wanted to go I thought we should just do it! We had plans to have a girls night out with dinner at Serranos with Aunt Kim and Cindy and Courtney and Lexi, Granny Harris and me and the girls. At the last minute, poor Lexi started throwing up so plans quickly changed. Courtney and Lexi didn't come and they gave their ticket to Drey. Drey was SO excited...he loves theatre and artsy stuff. I always tell him real men aren't afraid of music and dance. We didn't have time to go to Serranos (by the time we figured out who to give the extra tickets to and went and picked up Drey..we were running late) so we went to Elmers instead. That place sure brings back some high school memories!

We had an awesome night. It was late for a school night but the kids LOVED it! Definitely well worth it!

A Proper Sendoff

2010-01-01T19:03:00.009-07:00

We thought it only fitting to say goodbye to 2009 in the same style we lived it...full of laughter, chaos, family, fun, games, food, noise and craziness. The whole fam damily gathered at the folks house (minus the Richards) for some chicken fajitas and to spend the last hours of 2009 together.

We played some games....(can you tell whose winning)....

We ate an extraordinary amount of snacks. What's that? It's called self-control? Never heard of it.

We took pictures....

We played Rockband...loudly... and with no concern for singing in the correct key.

As the night wore on, we decided to recreate our senior high school photos. May I present the "head tilt"....

The "glance over the shades"...

The "wall hug"....

The "peace and love" pose...(no harm came to any of Juli's hair in the making of this photo)

The "leg on a chair"....

The "I'm just laying here looking cute" pose....

The "chin support"...

And finally...the "over the shoulder head toss"....

It was a great night and we were all able to ring in the new year with a kiss....

Wait..... What? Nothing.

Things got a little crazy at the end of the night. We were laughing so hard we're lucky nobody had an "accident" if you know what I mean. I came close. Laughing that hard after drinking a couple of liters of Diet Dr. Pepper is not a wise move. We welcome 2010...a new year and a new decade. I can only imagine what's in store for us this year!

Family Pictures 2009

2009-12-30T12:05:00.011-07:00

We had three different family picture sessions in the last two weeks. It was a lot...especially if you know my kids and their disdain for getting gussied up. First we had a "cousins" picture that my mom wanted taken of just her grandkids. Then we had a Beecroft family picture session followed by a Harris family picture session. It was a lot but the results were well worth the effort. I'm so happy to have an updated family picture of BOTH sides of the family. All the pictures were taken by my big bro, Brandon. I LOVE them!

The Christmas Post

2009-12-28T20:23:00.004-07:00

I'm much too lazy to do two Christmas blog posts. I was going to...but now I'm not. Anyone interested in how we spent Christmas can find a long post on my journal blog. Just let it be known that our Christmas was pretty fabulous!

ilovescotchtape.blogspot.com
(I'm thinking about scaling back to just one blog like a normal person. Hmmm. This family blog doesn't get much love.)

A mothers plea...

2009-12-22T21:10:00.003-07:00

Dear Children,
Please don't put jelly beans in your nostrils. You might start laughing and accidentally inhale them.

A jellybean lodged high up in a nostril is not easy to retrieve. So please...don't.

Thank you,

Mom

Waffles for dinner?

2009-11-17T19:35:00.005-07:00

Yes! Waffles for dinner! I got a waffle maker for my birthday (thanks Mom and Dad) and I was eager to try it out. Mornings can be somewhat rushed and chaotic so I thought I would try out my new waffle maker tonight for dinner. First, I read the instruction booklet from cover to cover. It's the only responsible thing to do.
Then the girls helped me mix up the batter. The booklet that came with the waffle maker had all kinds of interesting and delicious sounding recipes for batter. Unfortunately, I waited until the kids were starving to start dinner so I just used the recipe on the back of the pancake package. I plan on making some of the homemade waffles very soon.

Waiting....waiting....
A perfect waffle in only one minute! Are you kidding me?

I think the smiles speak for themselves.....

Thanks Mom and Dad for my new toy. I love it!

I am a Child of God.

2009-11-14T08:41:00.005-07:00

I accidentally had my camera set to night vision so it looks a little funky but the cuteness still comes across loud and clear! You have to pause the music at the bottom first....

Favorite parts...

parents "kind of" dear
the eye blinking at the end
the mess ups

Least favorite parts...

my singing voice...please disregard

Captain Deano's Crew

2009-11-01T08:22:00.010-07:00

Well, it's that time of the year again. Time for the annual JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. This is the third year we've participated since my nephew Dean was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. The kids were all so excited to go and see their cousins and do the walk. Delly even agreed to wear pants (instead of her standard dress) which was a huge deal. We got there early to walk around the booths and enjoy breakfast and get free stuff!

I just realized that we're missing an important element to our family picture....DREY! Whoops. My bad.
My friend Ali ( from nursing school) and her boyfriend Joe, came out to walk with us.

"I can hold an apple and a stuffed bear and balance a water bottle on my head...can you?"
Group picture before we headed out to walk....

The walk was a huge success this year. I had an unfortunate incident earlier in the week ( I don't want to talk about it) and was sporting a twisted ankle and two bruised knees. Eric accidentally hit his foot with a sledgehammer (don't ask) and my mom had knee replacement surgery earlier in the year and Tia's arthritis was acting up...but in spite of all that we had a great walk!

The kids especially enjoyed all the bouncy houses once we were all done walking.

Once the walk was over and we were walking out to the parking lot to leave, Drey got the mother of all bloody noses. I've never seen a nose gush blood like that for no apparent reason. It was a bloody mess but we eventually got it stopped....random!

That evening we all gathered at my moms house to eat Chinese food and dress up for Trick or Treating. This is the first year EVER that my girls didn't want to be a princess of some sort. Avery wanted to be a vampire (but didn't like wearing the teeth) and Delly wanted to be a witch. It was fun to do crazy hair and makeup this year...aren't they so stinking cute!?

We usually go out to the Queen Creek Halloween celebration but this year the kids just really wanted to trick or treat in the neighborhood. It's the first time we've ever gone trick or treating and the kids had a great time! My ankle was mad at me for continuing to walk on it after it specifically told me at the Diabetes Walk that it didn't want to be walked on anymore....but the kids had fun and that's all that matters! Drey was a Sumo wrestler and Gage apparently is too cool to hang with us....he went with his friends trick or treating... because they're cool and we're not. We had fun anyways!!

TRICK OR TREAT!

Delly could never remember to say "trick or treat" so she would just say "Happy Halloween!" and then hold her bag out.
It was an exhausting day but a good time was had by all!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T13:39:00.002-07:00

50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration

2009-10-27T09:25:00.014-07:00

This past Saturday was Joey's parents 50th Wedding Anniversary. We had a big party for them at their house to celebrate. Here's some pictures from the night..........

Does anyone else see the resemblance?

Cutting the cake...you can't see it really well but there's a picture on the cake of 50 years ago (to the day) of Joe and Nadean cutting the cake at their wedding reception. Cute, huh?

There was some great food including a table

that was LOADED with candy. Little bags were provided to fill up. My kids really tried to take advantage of that! I had to pull the reins on more than one occasion as I caught EACH one of my kids pouring huge scoopfuls of candy into a bag. I don't think so.

I was the designated photographer for the evening so when I took a break to eat Joey grabbed the camera and snapped some shots...mostly of me shoving food down my throat... and filling a bag FULL of candy! Busted! Good thing I'm the MOM and nobody took away my M&M's.

The party was a big success, mostly thanks to my two sister-in-laws and not so much because of me. Joey and I did make a video montage of pictures throughout the years that I'm going to try to figure out how to post. Don't hold your breath though....

HAPPY 50 YEARS!

One Lucky FUTURE Mrs.Harris!!

2009-10-17T18:22:00.009-07:00

Drey LOVES to cook. He's my little helper in the kitchen. If I teach him to make something once, from then on he can make it on his own. So far, he can make spaghetti and meatballs, scrambled eggs, bacon, blueberry muffins, grilled cheese sandwiches, pancakes and biscuits. This has come in handy on more than one occasion when I've been deep in my studies. I can just say "Hey Drey, wanna hook up the family with some scrambled eggs and bacon for dinner?" Nine times out of ten he jumps at the chance and makes a delicious dinner. Today Drey wanted to learn how to make cinnamon rolls...from scratch. It's quite a process and I was sure he would lose interest somewhere along the way but he didn't! I let him do each step and now that he knows...I have no doubt he can make them on his own in the future. (Pretty good investment of a few hours of my time if you ask me.)

He rolled out the dough...this part was hard for him to focus on JUST rolling out the dough and not forming it into volcanoes or submarines.

He then applied the cinnamon/sugar mixure....don't worry I made sure he washed his hands well through the entire process.He rolled them up and cut them into the right sizes to let them rise.... While we were letting the rolls rise, I taught him how to make the perfect frosting.Once they were all done cooking Drey put the finishing touches on his afternoons work....All done!!! Our house smells of heaven right now. After dinner and baths tonight we all tasted Drey's work to see how he did. I'm not joking or exaggerating when I say that they were the BEST tasting cinnamon rolls I think I have ever tasted! Cinnabon has nothing on Drey! Once we were all done Drey said "Mom, when I get married I'm gonna make my wife homemade cinnamon rolls and spell out 'I love you' with the dough." Thus the title of my post....that's gonna be one lucky lady!
It's going to take every ounce of willpower that I have to not go in and partake of another one. Ok...I'm not gonna lie...I'm eating another one.

Happy

2009-09-10T14:45:00.006-07:00

Well, it's been awhile since I updated the ol family blog. Some might say that I should be studying instead of blogging ....and they would be right. I just wanted to do a quick post of some pictures that make me smile and some things that make me happy.

My handsome son...who likes to talk to me. Weird and unexpected. I thought teenagers were supposed to be moody and private. Gage loves to tell me things...what girls he thinks are "hot", what girls he thinks are weird, what 8th grade drama is going on at the moment, things he thinks are funny and things that are bothering him. He's a keeper. My silly Delly who has a new talent...sucking her nostrils shut. She had the whole family rolling on the floor laughing the other night as she demonstrated her newest skill. My hot hubbs. Yes, he was just diagnosed with Bells Palsy on Sunday but just because you have a half paralyzed face doesn't mean you can't work it like you got it.... and he's got it. He's getting better, by the way.

These two girls love each other...and that makes me happy. They build forts together and go on "adventures" in the backyard together and end up in the same bed together during nighttime thunderstorms. I'm glad they each have a "sissy". Avery is such a good big sis to Delly (who follows her example in everything she does!)

Drey....to know him is to love him. He's unique and quirky. He can entertain himself with nothing more than his mind. Give him a piece of paper, some tape and a paperclip and he'll create a sculpture. You'll never meet a kid who loves cereal more than Drey. He's a one of a kind.

Things are going well over here at the Harris house. I just finished my third week of Block 3 nursing school and I love it! I'm learning so much every day. I feel like this is the happiest I've ever been in my life. I've always been happy and blessed but I love my life right now. My scar on my neck is healing nicely. We're all healthy (with the exeption of Joey's face....poor thing). Both Joey and I have callings that we love. The kids all love their teachers and schools. We have the greatest friends and family. All in all...life is fabulous!

The end.

Mom? Who's Mom?

2009-08-03T15:30:00.007-07:00

While I was having my surgery my kids were sitting around, pacing the floor, worrying over my health and safety, missing me terribly and counting the hours until we could be reunited.....Haha! Yeah right!!! Actually, I would be surprised if any one of them thought twice about me the whole week we were apart...and I'm so glad! I would much rather they were just having fun and loving life. While I was in the hospital, and for a few days after I got home, my awesome sisters (and brother-in-laws) took all my kids away for one last summer adventure. Tia and Justin took Gage with them on their wards Scout trip. They went white water river rafting in Wyoming (say that fast three times). Gage had the time of his life and has not stopped talking about it. Here are some pictures kindly taken by my sister. She took pictures the first run and rode the rapids the second run...so these are the pictures from the first time down the Snake River. I think the close up of Gage's face really shows the depth of his concern and worry for me. :)

They also stopped in Salt Lake to see the temple. My brother who works for the church was there and they took this awesome picture together.

While Gage was on his river adventure, my other sister Mindy and brother-in-law Eric kindly took in my other three kids. Avery, especially, has really had a hard time since they moved to Fort Thomas. Every single Sunday as we leave for Sunday dinner at my parents house she still asks "Is Sadie gonna be there?" One day she'll get it through her head that they MOVED! So she was really excited to spend a few days up there. They had a great time! Sure, Avery got a tooth knocked out within a couple hours of being there...but that's just how they do up there. You gotta be tough to live in the country. They had so much fun eating popsicles.....And playing with playdough.......

And catching baby horny toads and baby lizards......

And getting to wash the town fire truck to prepare for the 24th of July Parade.....(supposedly these pictures are of the fire truck being washed but it sure looks like something else entirely...I don't know, maybe it's just me.)
The kids even got to be IN the 24th of July Parade. They felt very important I'm sure!

Thanks again for showing my kids the time of their lives! They loved it and I loved resting and recovering from surgery in a QUIET and CLEAN house! I owe you guys!!!!

Good news.

2009-07-29T18:29:00.005-07:00

I had my appointment this morning to get my stitches out and to get the results of my tests. I was obviously really nervous to get my results. If tests showed cancer I was facing more surgery as well as cancer treatments and worst of all...I wouldn't be able to go back to nursing school in three weeks! If it showed NO cancer, that's it. I'm done. I go on with my life and go back to school and put all this behind me. I wanted to be told it was benign SO bad but I was mentally preparing myself to hear the worst. I halfway expected to hear that I had cancer and I was going to be really proud of myself about how well I was going to handle it. I was going to be stoic and brave and calm and then fall apart later in private. So when he said "Well, the good news is that everything came back benign"...I almost didn't know how to react. I only practiced my "bad news" reaction! I felt like I wanted to cry and I KNEW if I looked at my mom I would lose it so I just kept my eyes on the doctor. Once we left, my mom and I both fell apart in the elevator. We got some looks but I couldn't hold in the tears anymore! I felt so relieved and happy and overwhelmed with gratitude that I'M DONE! I don't have to think about this anymore. I don't have any doctors appointments to go to in the near future! I've been to over a dozen appointments these last few months and now I'm done! Just like that! I don't even care that I look like someone tried to murder me. I'm embracing my scarred neck. ( I may have to purchase a cute necklace or two..I think that's fair.) Gage said the scar looks like a smiley face...and it does! Thanks to everyone who was rooting for us to have good news. Thanks for everything...everybody! I can't even believe that we're this lucky to have the greatest friends, family and neighbors in the world! Tonight I'm tired and my neck hurts and I have a headache but I'm one happy chicka!

Before and after pix....

WITH stitches:

WITHOUT stitches:

A pain in the neck.....

2009-07-25T17:22:00.008-07:00

The surgery is over and done with! Yea! It's such a relief to be home and still alive and to have that nasty tumor OUT of my neck! The last few days have been pretty crazy. To recap....

The night before my big day, my parents took Joey and I out to dinner. All the kids were farmed out to different family members so I could have a few days after the surgery to recover and rest in peace. ( Thank you guys!!!!) We went to eat at Sweet Tomatoes and it tasted so good to me! I knew I wouldn't be eating for awhile so I savored every bite! When Joey and I got home from dinner, my friends Shelly and Lisa came over with an "anti-boredom" package to help make the recovery time easier. It had magazines, a book, candy, a blanket, ect... They're the greatest! Thank you ladies!

The night before surgery, I layed awake most of the night feeling sick to my stomach. I couldn't take any sleeping meds so I just lay there listening to Joey sleeping like a baby...not a care in the world! :) The morning couldn't come soon enough! I just wanted to get it over with. We had to be at Tempe St. Lukes by 8AM to check in. They told me I could shower and put on deodorant but NO makeup or lotion or anything like that. It's bad enough you have to have surgery but then you have to feel all disgusting, too! I was really tempted to put a little lotion on but ultimately I followed the rules. Joey took a picture of me in all my glory right before walking out the door....(it's hard for me to post all the following pictures but this is my journal and I want to document it. Sorry if it's disturbing to anyone!) Once we got to the hospital, my stomach calmed down a little. They took me back to pre-op and got me hooked up to an IV and made sure I knew that really really bad things could happen during surgery. They went down the list...bleeding, infection, permanent loss of voice or permanent hoarseness, collapsed lung, heart attack, death...ect. Then I had to sign "consent" that said I still wanted to go through with it. I actually DIDN'T want to go through with it but I knew I had to.
They gave me a cute hat to wear and Joey snapped one last picture before they wheeled me back to the surgery room. Cute, eh?

I don't remember much else after that. I remember getting put on the table and the anesthesiologist saying "goodnight" and then waking up 4 hours later. I woke up with a horrible headache and really really hot because I had blankets piled up on me. I could hear my recovery room nurses talking about who should take their lunch break first and I was desperately trying to open my eyes or move so they would know I was awake. It's a strange feeling to be completely paralyzed like that. It seemed like forever that I was trying to tell them I was hot and to take the blankets off me. Eventually I gave up and just went back to sleep. I woke up in my hospital room. That first day is all kind of a blur. I remember having a horrible headache all day and intense pain when I tried to swallow. I had no voice. When I would try to talk it was just a scratchy whisper. It hurt to try to talk so I just didn't talk unless absolutely necessary. At one point the nurse came in and asked me if I wanted to go for a walk in the hallway. I was like..you gotta be kidding me lady! That's the LAST thing in the world I want to do. Then she mentioned that she didn't want me getting blod clots and I remembered WHY it was important to walk after surgery. I say no thank you to blood clots. That's all I need! So I got up and walked. Joey and my mom were good about documenting all my achievements. It FELT like an achievement! Who knew that just walking a few steps down the hall could be so difficult? I know now that this whole thing will make me a better nurse. I will understand now why it's so hard to get up out of bed after surgery. How all you want to do is lay there and NOT move! I think I will be more patient and understanding where as before I had no idea what surgery is like and how much it wipes you out. The second day I woke up feeling much better. I was still in a lot of pain but I felt my brain was less hazy. I think all the drugs had finally worn off and I could think more clearly. I was able to get up and brush my teeth and wash my face. I ate a couple of bites of scrambled eggs and passed on the cream of wheat. No thanks. I tried it but I couldn't get it down. It hurt to eat so I just didn't!
Right after breakfast, Dr. Mendelson came in to take out my drain and talk to me about the surgery. He said the tumor was bigger than they expected or anticipated. He had to make my incision bigger than he had originally told me it would be because he needed to be able to get it all out. He said due to the fact that it was so large, it will take a week to be tested for cancer. Next Wednesday I get the results of the tests back and I will know if it was cancerous or not. If it is... I have to have more surgery. If not...I'm DONE! I can go on with my life! He told me I need to use my voice and not baby it. I guess the nerve to my voice box was in the way and it had to be moved and he was a little concerned it might have been damaged a little. He told Joey there was a possiblity that I would have permanent hoarseness. As much as it hurt, I forced myself to use my voice and not whisper. Yesterday, my voice came back completely and I was so relieved! Occasionally it will go out but for the most part my voice is back. Today is three days post-op and I feel pretty good. My neck hurts like the dickens..especially when I try to turn my head, but I can swallow without too much pain and I can talk! So I'm good!

Thank you to everyone who cares about me and my family. Thanks for coming and sitting in the waiting room and being bored! Thanks for the cards, the calls, the cinnamon rolls, the flowers, the emails, the dinners....everything! Thank you for taking my kids away and doing fun things with them so I could rest and recover in a quiet house! I can't thank you all enough! I will let everyone know what I find out on Wednesday! Hopefully it's good news!

Check out that BAD BOY scar!!

A FABULOUS week!

2009-07-17T09:45:00.016-07:00

This summer has been awesome! For the first time since Joey became a teacher (11 years ago) he was actually HOME during his summer break. Normally, he would be doing his summer satellite job the whole break but since his back injury he no longer can do that. He was home with us and it was wonderful! We swam, we went to the movies, we lounged around, we swam, we swam.... is swam a word? I guess I should say we went swimming. My point is...it's been nice. However, due to my recent health issues we didn't plan a family "out of town" vacation because we weren't sure when my surgery was going to happen. Now that it's scheduled for next week we decided to take a quick vacay...and I mean REALLY QUICK! It was kind of a spur of the moment decision to just get out of town for a few days. Some friends in our ward have a cabin outside of Flagstaff so we went up there for a couple days. I'm SO glad we went!It was in the low 80's... NICE compared to 115 degrees at home! It even clouded up and sprinkled on us a couple times. Only the BEST smell ever! Rain in the mountains ranks right up there with the smell of scotch tape! Mmmmmm.

There was a small lake right next to the cabin. The boys were so excited to try to fish (even though we didn't bring any gear).Gage carved a spear with his knife and was determined to catch a fish.And he DID! Kind of. He found a fishing line that someone had walked away from with two fish on it. He was so excited! Someone needs to take that boy fishing!My mom and Tia came along to get out of the heat as well. The cabin was HUGE so there was plenty of room....
While the other peeps were napping and lounging around, Gage, Drey, Avery and I decided to go on a hike. We found a trail that led deep into the woods. I was glad that I remembered to take my camera.

We took lots of "breaks". This annoyed Gage. He's like me and he wants to HIKE...not stroll. Drey and Avery are strollers and liked to stop so Drey could hit trees with a big stick ( I don't know why...he's 10) and so Avery could pick flowers and look for deer tracks. We saw TONS of deer tracks and deer droppings but no deer. We hiked for about an hour and a half and then the conversation turned to whether or not there were bears in the forest. Drey started trying to scare Avery and ended up freaking HIMSELF out! Very soon he was looking into the woods with a concerned look on his face and soon after that he wanted to turn back. The stinker. I realized that we were pretty far into the woods by ourselves and we had drank all our water so we turned back to the cabin.
We spent a lot of time lounging around on the comfy chairs on the deck, reading and eating grapes. Ahhh. This is the life. I could do this every day... forever!

We brought plenty of games to play. Carcassonne, Five Crowns, Sequence...to name a few.
They even had a cool swing in the front yard that the kids had a great time on!

As we were all laying around on the deck, someone ( I think it was my mom) had a great idea. She suggested that we ride up to the Grand Canyon the following day. My kids had never been there and it was only an hour and a half away so we decided to go! It was beautiful and breathtaking and NERVE RACKING! I was a nervous wreck. I guess I thought there would be guardrails and it would be a safe activity. NOPE! There were a few railings but for the most part there weren't. I held Delly pretty much the entire time. I couldn't risk her running away and falling off. I made sure someone was always holding Avery's hand and if the boys even THOUGHT about stepping one foot off of the marked path they would hear me bellowing! Get on the path!! No running! Stay together! Back up! I was a nervous overprotective wreck! I can't say the same for other parents. I can't even begin to describe the idiots who were at the Grand Canyon that day. Parents that were letting their kids run around and play right on the EDGE! Where it's slippery with loose gravel! One mom had her three little kids standing right on the edge so she could take a picture. The boys were elbowing each other and messing around and the little girl (about Dellys age) was just standing there INCHES away from the edge while the mom adjusted the settings on her camera and was not even watching! I was horrified! Even Avery said "Mama, that's not safe." Hello... seven year old was smarter than that lady! People were strolling along the edge, hopping from rock to rock, sitting with their legs dangling off, not paying attention AT ALL! I couldn't believe it. There needs to be some kind of common sense test that you have to pass before being allowed into the Grand Canyon. Seriously. In the visitor center there was a book about all the deaths that have occured there. 600 people have slipped and fallen to their deaths. I was about done after I read that. I was ready to leave. We got some cute pictures, my kids saw the Grand Canyon and I wanted to leave before I witnessed anything tragic. I had nightmares that night as it was.

That's the Grand Canyon behind us....we were having the hardest time getting the pictures to turn out and not wash out the background!

My sister desperately consulting the map in search of a bathroom. It was and emergency (44oz. of Diet Dr. Pepper on the way up) and we were all hurting.

As we were driving home from the Grand Canyon we decided to stop at a deer farm and let the kids pet the deer. I remember doing that when I was a little girl at the same place!

Delly was a little scared at first but soon was letting the deer eat right out of her hand!

I started to feel sprinkles on my feet and I thought "Oh good! It's sprinkling!" Then I looked down and saw that it was a different kind of sprinkle that I was feeling. My sister got "sprinkled on" as well. Not nice.

I could relate to this deer with a goiter. It's not easy having a goiter. The stares. The whispers behind your back. The furtive glances..trying to look at it but not be seen looking at it. At least I'm getting mine removed next week! We had a moment....this deer and I. We bonded.

I could have stayed up in the mountains a few more days. I think we all could. But there was no way we were going to miss going to see WICKED! We had tickets for Thursday night. No boys. Just a girls night out. We started it off right with Wicked pedicures......

Followed by dinner at Nello's. Always a treat.......

Followed by the greatest show ever...WICKED! It was awesome. This whole week has been awesome. It was a much needed break. Time to get back to real life!

Two Days of Crazy Fun!

2009-06-24T17:31:00.011-07:00

This week we were SUPPOSED to go to Utah and go camping for our Beecroft family reunion. At the last minute all plans were cancelled due to the uncertainty of when my surgery would be as well as my brother and his family needing to move out of their house and into their new house this week. Since we couldn't go camping we decided to just have a fun couple of days here in the valley. My dad was home from Mexico and the Richards were in town...only the Utah Beecrofts missed out on the fun.

It all started yesterday at the Science Center. I haven't been to the Science Center since my 7th grade field trip and I forgot how cool it is! As we were waiting to get our tickets to get in, Delly stepped on this air vent and it blew her dress out. I think her face says it all......

She thought the Science Center was the BEST PLACE EVER and we hadn't even left the lobby yet!

The kids learned all sorts of interesting things. This particular display was teaching all about POOP. The kids were fascinated and enthralled. The lady teaching about the poo said that maybe one day they could grow up to be a "scatologist" or "studier of poo". Aim high, children. Aim high.

Obviously, my favorite part of the Science Center was the area dedicated to the human body. I love that stuff. There was a mannequin named "Tan" that would have different body parts light up as she talked about the different functions of the body. I was standing there listening with Drey when the "mammary glands" lit up. Drey said "Oh, I am SOOOO out of here!" I said "What's wrong, Drey?" and he said " Mom! She's showing her MELONS!" (*heavy sigh*) Where did we go wrong? Where did he even hear that?! In the spirit of having a nice day, I decided to just let it go and have the conversation where we discuss not calling certain body parts "melons" on another day.

Wheelchair races.....

I loved watching the faces of the kids when they saw something "cool". Delly especially has a face that just lights up in wonder and excitement. I caught it a few times on camera.....

The bed of nails was a big hit. We all had to try it, multiple times. It really does seem like it should hurt way worse!The Lego section was also a big hit with the kiddos. I think they could have stayed in that section all day! The grown-ups liked it, too.

Halfway into our Science Center experience, Drey broke his flip flop. He had to carry his shoe and walk around with one bare foot. When we got home, the bottom of his foot was completely black. He thought that was cool.When we got back to my parents house after the science center, we had a BBQ. We had steak and chicken taquitos, watermelon, hotdogs...the works. It was dee-lish. My parents thought it would be fun for the kids to have a campout in the backyard so we set up tents and we dug out sleeping bags and bug spray. When I say "we" I mean Gage. I don't know what happened but my picture taking kind of fizzled out as the day wore on. I didn't take any pictures of the BBQ or the campout or the marshmellow toasting over the campfire...(that was a disaster by the way- a bunch of kids with wire hangers, fire and burning hot marshmellow goo.) It seemed like a fun idea but I'm just grateful nobody got an eye poked out or a serious burn. My nerves were shot by the time we got all the kids settled in their tents. I went home and found out this morning that all the kids were back in the house to sleep by midnight thanks to Drey and his stories about Sasquatch. So the campout was a bust.

Today we all went to the pool and hung out. Again, I took my camera and didn't take ONE picture. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm usually good at documenting all the fun. It was a scorcher today and you can see the spots on my kids where I didn't get the sunscreen on well. Bright red spots! We came home from the pool and by the time I got out of the shower both girls had passed out. This is how I found them.....
Delly didn't even make it onto the couch...she was smooshed between the couch and the ottoman. That's what happens when you play hard, stay up late and then play hard again the next day. A big shout out goes to Mombee and Grandpa for hosting this years (makeshift) family reunion. It wasn't camping in Utah but it was still FUN! Next year we're hoping to get the Utah Beecrofts to join in the fun. See what you missed, BK? Your kids could have been passed out like this, too! Looking forward to a quiet evening.

Health Update

2009-06-19T14:40:00.005-07:00

Well, I just got back from my hundredth doctors appointment this summer...(actually only my 9th but it feels like more) and I figured I better do an update. I've promised so many people that I will keep them updated on the status of my health and I figure the easiest and fastest way is to just update the ol' blog. For those of you who are not aware of my latest drama...here's a recap:

Back in April, I was dropping off Adelle at my mom's house so I could go to class. As I was just about to leave my mom said "What in the world is that on your neck?" I didn't know what she could mean because as far as I knew my neck had nothing "on" it. She said "Go look in the mirror...you have a lump on your neck." Sure enough, I walked over to the mirror and saw a huge lump on the front of my neck, just to the right side of my trachea. Here's a picture that I took back in April-

Immediately, my brain started in overdrive thinking of all that I had learned in class and what it could be. I figured it was probably either an enlarged lymph node (because I was just getting over a sinus infection) or an enlarged thyroid gland. My mom offered to watch Adelle longer that day so I could go and see my doctor after class. The doctor thought that it was most likely an enlarged lymph node and put me on a strong antibiotic that I had to take for three weeks. A month later the lump was still there so I went back to the doctor. He decided to draw blood to check for two things...my thyroid hormone levels and to see if I might have leukemia. The blood tests all came back normal. Since my thyroid hormones were all normal he was thinking I might have lymphoma (cancer in the lymph nodes). This was scary because my grampa has been fighting lymphoma for years so it may run in the family. Next step... he sent me in to get a CT scan. That revealed that it wasn't my lymph nodes that were the problem but it was in fact my thyroid that was enlarged. I was relieved not to have lymphoma but worried about what it could be. The doctor wanted to get a closer look so he then sent me in to have an ultrasound of the thyroid. That revealed that I had 4 nodules (tumors) on my thyroid. One really big one...the one visible on my neck... and three smaller ones. He said he was " concerned" because they looked "suspicious". Two words you never want to hear your doctor say..I assure you. My doctor then sent me to a specialist in Tempe who said that a biopsy was in order to check for thyroid cancer. I had the biopsy done a week and a half ago...basically I got stabbed in the neck multiple times and it HURT! I had to wait for 10 days to get my results. We finally had the doctors visit this morning. Here's a picture of Joey and I in the doctors office waiting to find out if I have cancer....

Joey was messing around with some of the doctor's paraphernalia and I was so scared the doctor would walk in and see Joey with his headgear on! It was quite humorous! Only Joey could have me laughing as I sit waiting to find out if I have cancer! So the doctor finally came in after making us wait an hour and told me that the biopsy results were "inconclusive". Basically what that means is that I may have cancer...and I may not. They just can't tell by the sample. Bummer! I REALLY was hoping for an answer one way or the other. Here we are at the end of June almost and I still don't know what's wrong with me! Two months of waiting and I still don't know. Frustrating!

So the doctor gave me four choices.....1. Redo the biopsy but with no guarantee that it won't come back inconclusive again. No thanks. 2. Wait 6 months and watch it closely and then redo the biopsy in 6 months. Risky if it is, in fact, cancer. 3. Take out half of the thyroid ( the side with the biggest tumor) and test it for cancer. If it shows cancer, I have to have the other half removed as well... but if it doesn't show cancer then they can leave the left side of my thyroid in and I might not have to take synthetic thyroid hormones the rest of my life. 4. Take the whole thyroid gland out and be done with it. This option will require me to take Synthroid the rest of my life.

After much thought, and prayer and fasting I have opted for option 3. I feel good about it and Joey feels good about it. The doctor seemed to think we were making the right choice as well. My doctor said he's a little biased though because his sister had thyroid cancer and she just sat on it and didn't get it taken care of for a long time and it got more complicated. So he's not a big fan of the "wait and see" approach.

There is a small risk that the small tumors on the left side will continue to grow and one day in the future I will have to have the left side out as well. It's also possible that they will never get bigger than they are right now and I will have a 1/2 of a thyroid that works just fine. That's what I'm hoping for.

So, I find out Monday the date of my surgery. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Now that I've made the decision I just want to get it over with. Before I can have surgery I have to go get a physical from my doctor, go do more bloodwork, go get a chest X-ray, and go have some procedure done where they stick a tube down my throat and take pictures of my vocal cords. There is a small risk that the nerves to my vocal cords could be damaged so they take pictures ahead of time. It's overwhelming to think about how much time and money I still have to spend at doctors offices. Not fun. I definately like being the nurse better than I like being the patient!!

So that's the latest news....when I find out my surgery date I will post it here. Thanks to everyone for the kind emails, texts, phone calls...ect. It is all much appreciated!

Photo a Day Journal

2009-06-06T21:00:00.002-07:00

Hey peeps. I'm going to be taking my Photo a Day Journal blog private. Not this family blog...my journal blog. I don't mind in the least that people read it...thats why I put it on my sidebar. I just don't want perfect strangers to read it anymore. So if you enjoy reading it and want to be able to keep reading it...let me know so I can give you access. Leave a comment or email me with your email address. As for this family blog I'm not taking it private but I will be changing the blog address so it doesn't have our names in it anymore. When I do...I will let ya'll know.

Robby Returns!

2009-06-05T11:58:00.005-07:00

Yesterday, our nephew Robby returned home from his mission in Africa. It's hard to believe how fast time flies. It's been two years already! He looked so grown up...and skinny! Family and friends all gathered at Kim and Neal's house for dinner and dessert. Delly didn't even know who Robby was as she was only 1 when he left. I said "Delly, can you say Hi to Robby?" and she said "Who's Wobby?" It must be strange to leave for two years and come back and have everything different. The same but different.

Of course, Gage scoped out the cute girls and made their acquaintance. Delly thouroughly enjoyed the dessert counter. Cheesecake, cookies, M&Ms ...she was in heaven and mostly unsupervised. I'm surprised she wasn't sick later. I must confess I was a little sick later because I, too, was unsupervised at the dessert counter. Not good.

Mom's Day.

2009-05-12T09:08:00.006-07:00

I always look forward to Mothers Day. I love the cards and letters that my kids make for me at school. This year Drey made me a calendar with a poem for each month. The kid has got talent! His poems were amazing! Avery wrote me a sweet note letting me know that I was a #1 Mom and she thinks I'm pretty, nice, sweet and A-OK! She also said I was "importint to her". I love her spelling. Gage cleaned up pretty much the whole house for me. He even vacuumed!

Sunday morning, I went over to take my mom some flowers from my dad. My dad is down in Mexico working so he asked that we make sure she had flowers on Mothers Day. I took a picture so my dad could approve my choice. Did I do good? I thought these tulips were gorgeous and you can replant the bulbs and enjoy them year after year. I tried to get my mom to pose with them but it was early in the morning and she didn't want to. She did allow her hand to be photographed, though!

Then we went over to Granny Harris' house to bring her breakfast. It was just a light breakfast of muffins and fruit but it was tasty! Gage...too cool for school.He thinks he's bad now that he's getting taller than everybody. I didn't realize he was THAT much taller than his Granny but...the picture speaks for itself!I made Granny Harris a book of all the different pictures from family events throughout the year. I used a company called Blurb that will turn your pictures or blog into a book. It turned out really well! I think she liked it....hope so.After church we made dinner and took it over to my moms. Creamed spaghetti with ham and peas. Sounds gross but it's one of my favorites! It's basically spagetti in a cream sauce with chunks of ham and peas in it. SOOOO good. I ate entirely too much but figured it's allowed on Mothers Day. We were able to talk to my brother and his family on the Webcam. My kids got a kick out of that! It was a great, busy day! I was exhausted by the end of Mothers Day!! Thankfully, Joey got all the kids ready for bed so I could watch the finale of The Amazing Race. It was an awesome day! Can't wait until next year!!

I love being a mom. It's a hard job. It's a fun job. Sometimes it's a smelly job. My kids can make me laugh till I cry and they make me frustrated to the point I want to pull my hair out. But I love every stinkin one of them and hope I do a good enough job that they turn out all right. I have great examples to follow..my mom and mother-in-law are the bombs bomb...the cat's meow..the...well you get the idea. Happy Mothers Day!

Halfway done with NURSING SCHOOL!!!!!!!

2009-05-08T09:07:00.012-07:00

This last week marks the end of Block 2. I still have a final exam next Wednesday but class, lab and clinicals were all wrapped up this week! I can't believe it. It feels so weird to think that the semester is over and I have a whole summer to lounge around reading novels (instead of textbooks) and getting a FULL nights sleep and hanging out with my kids and swimming and having time to work out again! And most importantly...no STRESS! No constantly thinking about what project or paper is due or if I'm ready for the next test. We had a test every single Wednesday so you could NOT get behind on your studying. It was constant and grueling and IT'S OVER! It feels SO good. I did it! I actually loved Block 2. I loved the instructors, I had a great clinical group and I got to work in the hospital instead of the nursing home...it was just an awesome semester. Below are some pictures of us practicing our mad skills.......

Another awesome clinical group..I stole this picture from my friends Facebook page. I wasn't in this group but I'm sure they have mad skills, too.

After the last day of clinicals we all decided to go out to celebrate. We went to eat at Valle Luna where we gorged ourselves on chips and salsa and reminisced about all the good and not so good times this semester. My partner in crime...or partner in "slime" was Ali. We worked on the same floor at the hospital all semester and saw and did a lot together! We're trying to get the same clinical schedule for next semester because ...well...shes a rockstar nurse and I don't want to do it without her. Keeping the fingers crossed.

Thank you to EVERYONE who helped our family out this semester. So so so many people that made it possible. If I didn't have support and help I simply wouldn't be able to go to nursing school. So THANK YOU! Thank you to my mother in law, my mom, my sisters, my sisters in law, my neice and all my friends and family who were willing to watch Delly while I was gone. Thank you for the dinners brought in to feed my family during the crazy weeks that Joey was bedridden with his back issues. Thank you for the words of encouragement when I was tired and stressed. I've wondered many times if I'm being selfish by doing this. It takes so much of me. Thankfully, the kids and Joey are adjusting and pitching in to help and we're doing just fine with it. I hope I'm teaching my kids the value of education and following your dreams. I've wanted to be a nurse forever and it's so close I can taste it. So, thanks you guys. I love my peeps!

To be opened in 2019!

2009-04-20T19:40:00.004-07:00

Tonight was Family Home Evening and Gage was in charge of the lesson. His lesson was on goals and working towards something. He had us each write a letter or list of who we want to be or what we want to have accomplished in ten years. We then rolled all of our papers up and put them in a bottle. We decided to bury it by the big tree in the backyard. It seems like a good landmark that will hopefully still be there in 2019!

Gage dug the hole and at the last minute Gage and Drey decided that they wanted to add something else so they ran back inside. They came out a few minutes later and each added a time capsule of their own. I have no idea what they put in it so it should be interesting to see in ten years! Good bye until 2019!!!!

Of course, the evening just woundn't be complete if it didn't involve the boys fighting! They call it wrestling but since it usually ends with someone getting hurt...I call it fighting. Even so, it was a great FHE!

Girls Night Out!

2009-04-19T20:19:00.008-07:00

Every 3rd Thursday, The Edge 103.9 has a free concert. This last Thursday my sisters and I decided to have a much needed girls night out and go to it. Joshua Radin was playing...who is just the greatest! Josh and I have been through some tough times together. Whenever I'm studying and stressing out because my brain won't hold anymore information, I put on my Joshua Radin CD and let his voice just make everything better. We started the night off sharing a BIG salad and pizza crusts at Nello's. We had to go to the Nello's in Tempe because of "an incident" that happened at the Nello's in Chandler. Let's just say that we can't go to the Chandler Nello's anymore.

When we got to the place in Scottsdale where the concert was being held, we were surprised how few people were there. We were even 45 minutes late and it didn't seem like anyone was there. So we decided to go into Dos Gringos (which is a bar/club) to use the restroom. I must say I was a little flattered that we got carded! Maybe they just card everyone because I'm pretty sure we look "of age". As we were walking to the back looking for the restrooms...lo and behold ...guess who is just sitting there at a table with a couple of other people. None other than Joshua Radin himself! I saw him but didn't make the connection of who it was until we went into the bathroom and Tia said "Did you see Joshua Radin sitting right there!?" I wasn't expecting him to be just out in the general population so it didn't register that it was him just sitting there! We quickly got out our cameras and went back out to ask him for a picture but just that fast he was GONE! We looked everywhere thinking he just stepped outside or something but to no avail. Talk about a missed opportunity! We went outside to the stage and still there were not that many people around so we walked right up and got in the front row. By the time the concert actually started around 9:00 PM there were TONS of people there and we were right in the front row center! It was perfect!

There were two openers before Joshua Radin came on...the first was a local band called Try Me Bicycle and they were really good!

The second was a chick named Meiko and she was also really good.

After Meiko performed, Tia announced that she was really parched and she was going to buy a drink. I couldn't let her lose her great spot in the front row so I reached into my purse and pulled out a giant bottle of water. We had a great laugh over that one! It's kind of an inside joke. Whenever Tia and I travel to Europe I always buy a HUGE water bottle to carry around...just in case.. and Tia never does because she doesn't want to have to carry it. It never fails that she gets really thirsty and ends up drinking my water. I'm a good sister...so I share. It was just funny that I had a big water bottle. Probably not to anyone else...but it was funny to us! Sorry! I like to stay hydrated!! Finally, Joshua Radin came on stage and gave a great concert! We had prime spots in the front! He was like 10 feet away from us! It was so totally worth it to stay up WAY past my bedtime to see him. I'm not in the habit of collapsing into bed in the early morning hours. I was really...really..tired the next day but so glad we went!

And of course the evening wouldn't be complete without an obnoxious drunk person(in the pink jacket) invading our personal space. She was pushing her way through trying to get up to the front. She was loud and annoying but we had a good laugh at her expense. Drunk people are freaking hilarious!
A good time was had by all. A big thanks to my home-girls for making it all possible!

Spring Break in Italy

2009-03-27T08:39:00.013-07:00

Well, it's March again and that means Joey got to take his annual trip to Europe. For the past several years he has taken a big group of high school students (and any adults that want to go, too) to Europe. This year they went to Italy. I usually go with Joey (to support him...not for any selfish reasons) but this year I'm immersed in nursing school so I let Gage go in my place. This is Gage's second time to Europe. He went to an Explorica convention in Spain with his Dad about 2 years ago and fell in love with world travel. Just like the rest of us. We love to travel! My sister and brother-in-law went as well to help Joey lead the group. The first stop on the tour of Italy was in Milan.

In the airport....Gage told me he actually likes the long flights! It took them almost 24 hours to arrive due to a 5 hour layover in London.

After arriving in Milan they went directly to the hotel for a good nights sleep. In the morning they woke up and took a boat tour to an island on a lake in Milan. (I think...help me out if I get any of this wrong Tia and Justin. It's hard to blog about something when you WEREN'T THERE!) This is Joey and Gage with their tour director, Luchi. Joey's used Luchi for several years and loves her! (As a friend.)
Verona, Italy: In front of the famous Juliet's balcony (from Romeo and Juliet). It's the balcony on the far left.This statue underneath Juliet's balcony is supposed to help you find a mate if you rub the right breast. I think...maybe it's supposed to bring you luck. Which one, Tia? Again...it's hard to blog about something when you didn't take the tour. Either way, my boys didn't rub....so they say.
Joey and Gage enjoying romantic Venice! I went to Italy a few years ago but Venice wasn't one of the cities we went to. I'm slightly annoyed that my son got to enjoy it with Joey instead of me! Dang school!

Joey and my sister...Tia. She's an art major and enjoyed the art way more than anyone else I think. They didn't understand why she wanted to spend so much time just staring at paintings! I would have understood if I was there, Tia.

The staple to Gage's diet was definitely McDonalds. He was so excited because they served curly fries in the McDonald's!

Florence, Italy: This cathedral is made of pink, green and white marble. It's enormous and so beautiful!

It's supposed to bring you luck if you rub the pig's nose. I don't know what happens if you PICK the nose...probably nothing good.

Lots of paintings and such on ceilings.......
Assisi, Italy: Home of the famous St. Francis of Assisi!

I think more than anything, Gage enjoyed all the "older women" on the trip. He's a self proclaimed ladies man and really liked all the attention from the high school girls. I gave my sister strict instructions to keep the girls away from my son! She tried her best and I don't think she made any friends doing it either. Thanks, T!

Rome, Italy: I love Rome! I love everything about Rome. The Colosseum, The Roman Forum...everything! I think Gage really was impressed by it, too. It's amazing!

Tia!? Where are you? Too close, Gage!! Tia!!!! I do NOT like that my baby is growing up and I especially don't like how girl crazy he is.
Vatican City...The Pope was not home unfortunately. Last time we were there he came to the window and blessed the crowd. That was interesting! The people went nuts!

The Trevi Fountain... throw in a coin and you will return there one day. Joey and Gage both threw in some coins to ensure we would be back!

Gage couldn't believe all the nudity in Italy! We constantly drill into him to not look at "bad things" and to keep his mind and thoughts clean. Then we take him to Italy where we proceed to surround him with statues and paintings full of naked men, women and children. How do you explain to a 12 year old boy that it's not okay to look at a picture of a naked woman unless you're in a museum in Italy...then it's considered art. Hmmm? Explain that one!
The boys had a great time and came home safe and sound. Joey had a little trouble with his back but thankfully Tia and Justin were there to help him lead the group. Next years trip is to France and Spain. If anyone wants to go just leave me a comment or email me and I'll get you the info on how to sign up. It's a great price and includes everything (hotel, plane, tours, breakfast and dinner, ect.) The only thing it doesn't include is lunch. Should be fun!

P.S. They also went to Pisa to see the leaning tower but I don't have those pictures. They're on my sisters camera so I will be adding those later.

Strawberry Jam Anyone?

2009-03-18T13:30:00.005-07:00

This morning I got a call from my mom telling me that Albertsons had strawberries on sale. She wanted to know if I wanted to come over and make jam with her. Um....YES! How can you pass up homemade strawberry jam? Well, you can't! So the kids and I went over to help. They each had a job to do....
Avery was in charge of cutting the washed strawberries into smaller pieces.Drey was in charge of blending it all up.Delly was the quality control person. She "tasted" quite a few just to make sure they were up to our standards.They were so delicious and it was almost a shame to blend them up!

The kids had so much fun making jam. Drey wants to open a store so he can just make jam all day and sell it!

Did I mention that I love STRAWBERRY JAM!?

The bitter taste of DEFEAT.

2009-03-08T20:20:00.007-07:00

PINE WOOD DERBY...2009

Gage was one of the score keepers this year. I think he liked doing that better than when he was in Cub Scouts and actually racing!

Saturday, Drey participated in his LAST Pine Wood Derby. He will be eleven next year so won't be racing again. We knew this year would be our last chance. Joey (bless his heart) always spends so much time with the boys getting their cars just perfect! Yet, every year, with both Gage and Drey, our car was dead LAST! I really was hoping this year would be different. I don't know what the secret to a fast car is...but we do NOT have it. I was watching Drey's face when his car raced for the first run. Not only was he last...he was beat by a LONG stretch. He looked over at me and I gave him a thumbs up and he just gave me a look and put his thumb down. As the races continued, he came in last again and again. I felt so bad for him. Poor kid. He was pretty upset. Last year he didn't seem to care that he was dead last. This year he wanted to WIN! Joey tried to talk to him and perk him up but he was humiliated. Some of the other kids teased him a little about his slow-poke car. We tried to teach him a "life-lesson" and told him that sometimes you just have to be happy for your friend that is winning instead of feeling bad for yourself. He wasn't buying it. He went into the bathroom to compose himself and so Joey grabbed his car and made some "adjustments" to it. He put on some graphite and loosened up the wheels. When Drey came back out it was the final race. Wouldn't you know it....Drey's car came in FIRST place in that run! He was SOOO happy! I could not believe my eyes! His friends all gathered around and cheered with him and slapped him on the back and he was all smiles. He still came in 19th place out of 19 cars but just winning that final race made a little ten year old boy one HAPPY camper!

Drey got the award for "Scouting Spirit". I'm kind of sad we're done with Pine Wood Derbys. Even though we always had the slowest car there, it was fun to watch how into it the boys (and some of their Dads) were. Blue Lightning......

UPDATE!

2009-02-28T18:28:00.008-07:00

I figure it's about time for an update on the goings on around here. I update my journal blog everyday so sometimes I neglect the old family blog. So here's what we've been up to.....

As many of you know, Joey hurt his back pretty badly in January. He had two bulging disks in his lower back that pretty much laid him out in bed for three weeks. He's doing much better thanks to LOTS of drugs and "the contraption". I've come to accept the fact that "the contraption" (as we so lovingly call it)...will be a permanent fixture in our bedroom. It's a device that grabs you by the ankles and hangs you upside down. It's right next to MY side of the bed so if I ever need to get up in the middle of the night... sometimes I run right into it! I feel an ever so slight amount of hate for "the contraption" but it has done wonders for Joeys back. Whenever it starts acting up he gets on and hangs for awhile and it takes the pressure off those spots in his back that hurt. His back is almost completely better but unfortunately he still has some nerve damage. The bulges in his spine were bulging out so far that they were completely smooshing the nerves that come out the sides of your spinal column. He had bad pain all down his leg and into his foot. The leg pain has resolved but his foot always feels like someone has lit it on fire. It hurts him pretty badly. We're hoping that the nerves will heal and he won't have to deal with it. He has to ice his foot every night.

Delly was so cute with Joey while he was laid up in bed. She would bring him her dollys and lay them on his pillow. She would say "There Dada...Sally and Lulu will make you feel ALL bedder!" Then she would get my stethescope out and say she was "fixing him". She was really worried!Once Joey was able to sit for longer than 10 minutes, we went and celebrated by going to breakfast at The Good Egg. We love that place. Mmmmm. I highly recommend the wheat pancakes. Delish!

Nursing school has been going GREAT! I absolutely love it. I'm almost halfway through Block 2. (There are 4 Blocks.) Last block I got to work at a nursing home. I was a little nervous to do that, I must admit. But after the first day I really enjoyed it. There were days that I drove home slightly depressed by some of the things I saw there. It's heartbreaking to see these sweet little old people that have no visitors, no family, nobody that cares about them. It was hard. The medical side of it was awesome though. I got to see and do alot. I really learned so much but I'm pretty positive that I won't be working in a nursing home after graduation. This is a picture of a few people that were in my clinical group. My instructor is in the white coat. I loved her! I miss her now that I've gone on to Block 2.
I spent many, many hours at the computer during Block one. Poor Joey had a heavy load to carry. He really stepped up to the plate and became Mr. Mom. I truly believe that Block 1 was a weeding process. They gave us unbelievable amounts of work to do and massive amounts of reading to get through. Sometimes we would have 15 chapters to know in one week! It was hard and I wanted to quit many times. I'm glad I didn't because Block 2 is much more manageable. With Joey being out of commission with his back I've had to really be smart with my time and stay organized. So far so good. I get to do my clinicals at the hospital and I'm loving it. Everyday I see and do something new. It's really, really fun! Somedays I want to stay longer, even though my shift is over! I think everyone should have a job that they love. It makes me happy. I'm so grateful for SO many people that help out so that I can do this. My biggest cheerleader is Joey. When I get tired and don't want to study or I feel guilty because we had frozen pizza for dinner...he always reminds me that it will all be worth it.
Let's see...what else...Delly continues to make us laugh. She likes to come up with new uses for her panties. Like using them to keep her head warm....
And using them to hold her toys. She prefers boy underwear for this because the elastic holds the toys better. I know...gross.I learned the hard way that you should NEVER, under ANY circumstances, leave your purse in the car. I shoved my purse under my seat while we were at church and someone broke out my window and snatched it. It was a cute purse and I miss it. It was pretty embarrassing. I know better but I didn't want to carry a big ol purse around as well as my big ol Primary bag. I learned my lesson.Yesterday, Drey had his piano recital. The kid cracks me up. And makes me scratch my head. Here's a kid that has so much stage fright that if they ask him to read the Article of Faith in Primary, he breaks out in a sweat...begins to shake...tears up...and begs his friend Cole to do it for him. He REFUSES to play the piano in front of anyone besides immediate family. But come recital night...he is STOKED! He can't wait to get up in front of hundreds of people and play his song. What the heck!? I don't get it but that's just Drey for ya. He nailed his song. He didn't miss a single note and I was a proud mama! He has the greatest teacher. He has become quite the little piano prodigy! I'm thinking about starting Avery in lessons but I don't want to steal Drey's thunder. He KNOWS he rocks the piano and it gives him so much confidence.

Well....I feel better. I have nurtured my family blog a little and updated all my peeps on what's been up with us. I'll try to do better at not neglecting this blog.

Oh yeah...I almost forgot the GREATEST news of all! They opened a drive thru Krispy Kreme about a half a mile from our house! How great is that!?

Nikki Gets Married!

2009-01-15T20:14:00.006-07:00

Today our neice Nikki got married. She looked so beautiful! It's still hard for me to believe that she's old enough to get married!! She was just a little girl at my wedding. Everything was beautiful. The weather was gorgeous. The food was delicious. It was a great day.

Avery and Adelle thought Nikki was a princess! She did look like one...that's for sure!

Mr. and Mrs. Chad Wood.....

Joey was pimped out in his vintage suit. He actually NEEDED the cane. He has had a back injury for the past week and a half. The fact that he was able to get out of bed and get dressed and WALK around at the wedding was nothing short of a miracle! He was in a lot of pain but he made it through. Congratulations Nikki and Chad!

Tagged Again!

2009-01-15T19:50:00.004-07:00

I recently did this tag but what the heck...I'll do it again! Heaven knows I have enough random and strange things about me. RULES: List 7 random things about yourself and then tag 7 people.

1. I can't stand for people to touch my earlobes. I hate it. Joey used to nibble on my earlobes and it made me cringe. I eventually had to tell him I didn't like that. He still occasionally forgets and I just turn my head away until he gets the message.

2. Misspelled words and bad punctuation irritate me. I can't stand to read something that's written with no capital letters or comas or periods. It's called a run-on sentence people!

3. My new favorite treat is Peanut Butter M&Ms! They are heaven.

4. I'm missing one of my eye teeth. It just never grew in. My grandmother was missing the same tooth. It makes my smile look slightly crooked but it doesn't bother me enough to have it fixed.

5. Speaking of crooked... if I see a picture on the wall that is crooked I HAVE to make it straight. Even if I'm in someone elses house. It will bug me if I don't.

6. I like all kinds of music exept heavy metal. One of my favorite groups is called Il Divo. It's like modern opera. It's beautiful. When Joey and I were in Scotland a few years ago we saw them in concert on the top of a cliff at a castle! The fog was rolling in and we were up on this cliff in front of a huge castle listening to beautiful music! I will NEVER forget that moment!

7. I love hand-sanitizer.

I tag....well, last time I tagged people they didn't do it. So this time I tag....whoever wants to!

Happy Happy Birthday Drey-bee Dear!

2009-01-09T20:12:00.006-07:00

Ten years ago, on this date, I was almost a week past my due date and absolutely miserable. I had a doctors appointment and I cried and begged to be induced. I pleaded... and he took pity on me and agreed to induce me. Unfortunately, there were no beds available at the hospital so I ended up waiting three days and going into labor on my own on January 12, 1999. Ten flipping years ago! I can't hardly believe it. I've decided not to do big birthday parties this year. I'm simplifying my life. Lucky for me, Drey has always been really easy to please. I asked him what he thought about just having one friend over and we would go to the castle at Golfland and eat pizza and play video games. He thought that was a great idea! He invited his best bud Kaz...which was no surprise to me. At the last minute we invited Addie over so Avery would have a friend to play with, too.

Delly was the CUTEST Air Hockey player...EVER!I have always hated those machines where you put in 50 cents and try to win a little stuffed animal. My kids always beg to play them but it's just such a waste of money I usually say "no". I've always thought they rig them to make it impossible to win. Well, tonight was Drey's night and he wanted to do it. I have officially been proven wrong about those machines! Between the boys they won SIX stuffed animals! I couldn't believe my eyes! It must have been broken or something because I still believe that those machines are rigged!Drey said that this was the best birthday EVER! I'm glad we kept it simple. Drey is the greatest kid. I remember holding him in my arms when he was only a few hours old. We were all alone in the recovery room and he was wide awake. We were just staring into each others eyes for the longest time and I said out loud " I wonder what you're going to be like when you grow up little Drey Benjamin." He just stared back with his huge eyes. I remember it so vividly...like it was last week. Drey has been both the easiest kid and the hardest kid to raise. Anyone that knows Drey knows exactly what I mean by that. But I love that stinkin boy. His official birthday is not until Monday but.......Happy Birthday, Drey!

Christmas at the Harris House

2008-12-26T11:05:00.005-07:00

Just a few random pictures from Christmas morning.....we had a great Christmas and hope everyone else did too! If you will notice...in the picture above...Drey and Avery are HUGGING! Another Christmas miracle! They got along all day which made me extremely happy.

The girls got a mansion dollhouse this year. It has furniture and everything! I can't wait to play with it. I mean...the GIRLS can't wait to play with it!
I caught Delly eating Oreos before breakfast. I said "Delly! Oreos are not good for breakfast!" to which she replied "Yes dey are, mama! Oreos are berry good for breakfast!" She didn't know how I could say such a thing. Oreos are delicious! She has black remnants all over her lips in most of the pictures from Christmas morning.I got the one thing I wanted most this year and that's a Kitchen Mill wheat grinder! Score! I love it and can't wait to use it!
Joey got me some new workout clothes....is that a hint? Even if it is....I LOVE them!

On a sad note....we did have a drowning at the Polly Pocket Pool. Even with all my new nursing knowledge...nothing could be done to save Sally. A valuable lesson was learned. We no longer let our toys swim unsupervised.

Tagged By Brittany..

2008-12-15T19:49:00.004-07:00

I was tagged a long time ago by Brittany. It takes me awhile but I eventually get around to things! Rules: Say 7 random things about yourself and then tag 7 people.... No laughing!

1. I love stormy weather. Especially lightning storms. The more violent the better.

2. My favorite smell in the WHOLE world is the smell of scotch tape. I love the smell and I love the stickiness. I hate the feel of other sticky things like maple syrup or sucked on candy but the stickiness of scotch tape is divine.

3. I drink WAY too much Diet Dr.Pepper.

4. I used to do strange things in my sleep. According to Joey, I used to stick my legs straight up in the air and act like I was peddling a bike. Mostly now I just laugh loudly in my sleep.

5. I'm obsessed with good dental hygiene. I drive my family crazy...especially the kids...because I'm always on them to brush their teeth. They'll thank me one day.

6.I need three surgeries but have been putting them off for years because I'm too chicken. I need my sinus cavities fixed, my carpel tunnel in my wrist fixed and my impacted wisdom teeth pulled.

7. I can't bring myself to squish bugs. No matter how small or big. I can't bear it.

Now...I tag Mindy AND Eric (thats right you BOTH have to do it..and you better say the toe thing because thats pretty random) Elise, Cindy T. (I guess now you have to start a blog HAHA!), Tia AND Justin, and BK!

CZECH THIS OUT!! ( Yes, I did say that...I know I'm a dork.)

2008-12-01T16:23:00.013-07:00

Thanksgiving in PRAGUE! Last year was Amsterdam...this year was Prague. I felt kind of guilty for missing Thanksgiving TWO years in a row but Tia really wanted to go to Prague. So... being the good sister that I am, I made the sacrifice and went ahead and went with her. I'm just nice like that. It's always our tradition to eat a muffin at the start of any adventure. I know that's a random, strange tradition but that's what we do. So while we waited for our flight out we shared a muffin.

The flight went well even though we had a layover in Denver AND Frankfurt. It didn't seem too bad and we were really excited when we finally arrived in the Czech Republic!The first order of business was to sample the beverages in Prague. Coke Light tastes nothing like the Diet Coke that I know and love but in a pinch it will do. Tia loves it but I prefer my soda to taste like soda as opposed to cough syrup. I'm weird like that. We realized on that first day in Prague that we were most likely going to freeze to death sometime on our trip. They would find us frozen solid on a park bench somewhere. Two poor Arizona girls who thought they could survive in subzero temperatures. Actually, I don't know how cold it was but I know that it was stinkin COLD! We both had many layers on (I look like I'm 25 pounds heavier in all the pictures because of all the layers...not cute!) but we were still cold. So we had to make some purchases. Tia looked for gloves the whole time and never did find some she liked!I found some cute gloves and a hat right off the bat. It made all the difference. Once I had my hat and gloves on I was fairly certain that I wouldn't freeze to death after all. When Tia would reach a point where she was afraid one of her fingers would freeze and snap off in the cold I would let her borrow my toasty gloves for awhile. Told you I'm nice!Prague is AMAZING... and these pictures don't do it justice. We just couldn't capture it in pictures. We tried! This a picture of The "Orloj" or the CLOCK. Thanks to our new friend, Vincent, we learned so much about the history of Prague. Vincent was from Paris but he was so knowledgeable and shared with us the story behind the clock. It's an astronomical clock that was made during the year 1410. The city council was afraid that the clockmaker was going to make a similar clock for a different country so they poked his eyes out with a hot fireplace poker. So he had someone lead him to the clock where he proceeded to take out some parts. It was 30 years before someone was able to fix the clock. It really was beautiful even though it has such a brutal story behind it!Old Town Square...Some other things Vincent taught us....In 1989 there was the Velvet Revolution and the people were freed from communism and Soviet influence. In 1993 Czechoslovakia was split in two and the Czech Republic was founded. Only twenty years ago, Prague was a communist nation. Some of the people dress and act like communism is still alive and kicking. It was a little strange. I won't go into it because this blog is going to be long enough. But it was interesting.We went into the local supermarket and had a look around. WAY different than what we're used to. Here's Tia trying to figure out what the mystery vegetable was.We took a nice long walk up the hill to the cathedral and the palace. Wow! What a place!

The cathedral was absolutely amazing! No picture can capture it. You just have to go there and see for yourself!

We were able to go inside and it felt wrong to take pictures...but we did anyway. Everyone else was taking pictures so we thought....well...what the heck...we will too. It was massive!

Tia and I got a kick out of the door to the post office. No phones, no guns, no dogs, no bank robbers...and no ice cream cones! They can be dangerous you know.

The entrance to the palace had a big gate with two statues on each side. I don't think you can see too well but one statue is of a man beating another man with a club. The other statue is of a man stabbing another man with a knife. Nice people. Apparently it was to serve as a reminder of what happens to people that don't behave.

View from the top of the hill...again...the pictures are so deceiving. It was WAY more beautiful in real life.

For dinner, Tia and I wandered off the beaten path and found a cute little pizzeria. It was adorable inside and the pizza was decent. Considering the pizza sauce was just plain tomato sauce. Hey...who needs spices, right?

My world phone was not working. No service. Apparently the lady that works for Verizon is a liar. She assured us that we would have no problems but she has some repenting to do. Thou shalt not lie. So it was awhile before we were able to call Joey and Justin. They were worried that something horrible had happened to us because we weren't able to call. Finally, at the end of the second day we found a little internet cafe and we were able to call home. They were very relieved to find out that we hadn't been captured and turned into slaves. (Their imaginations can get away from them.) Here is Tia on the phone while Justin yells at her for not calling sooner....

My turn to get yelled at.....

On our last day in Prague we spent the whole day exploring. We walked and we walked and we walked. I wish I had a pedometer on because I know we put some miles behind us.
We walked along the river towards the Charles Bridge and there were so many photo opportunities...we couldn't resist! It was absolutely gorgeous!

In front of the Opera House.....

Eventually we ended up back in the Old Town Square. They had set up a Christmas market and we did some shopping at all the little booths set up.
We also thouroughly enjoyed sampling all of the traditional Christmas "treats" that are

sold. Out favorite was the Trdelnik...it was this bread that was rolled onto a stick and cooked over fire and then rolled in powdered sugar. It was delish and we enjoyed more than one of those!

Roasted chestnuts..we didn't buy any of those because we weren't sure how to eat them. They were WHOLE chestnuts...roasted. Like the song. They smelled good, though!

Langose....this was like fry bread. Except they put katsup and cheese on it instead of cinnamon and sugar. It would have been better with cinnamon and sugar. Just my opinion.

Mmmmmm....Super waffles. They have carmel in the middle. We had these in Amsterdam last year and fell in love with them! We were so happy to see the super waffle booth! Divine!

For lunch we ate at Mozarts old house. He lived in this house in 1787. They turned it into a restaurant. We had a leisurely lunch and thawed out. How weird to sit and eat in Mozarts house! Who gets to do that!? The restroom smelled like a sewer but that's okay.

On the last evening in Prague, we were walking by a store and Tia noticed this bag through the window. We stepped inside to get a closer look and fell in love with this handbag! How cute is that!? Well, it was 900 Czech crowns which is about $45. I had almost that much money left but if I bought the bag I would be completely out of crowns. I didn't want to exchange any more money because they rip you off! So I wasn't going to buy it but Tia talked fancy to me. She's dangerous to go shopping with! She can talk me into things. She listed all the reasons why I deserved this purse! So I gave in and bought it. Which left me without any Czech money for the rest of the trip. We were leaving in the morning so it was okay but Tia had to buy me a bottle of water. She took pity on me since it was her fault I was broke!

The legend is that if you rub this statue on the Charles Bridge that it will bring you good luck. Tia and I both rubbed away. I'll take some of that!
On the bridge....Did I mention that it's cold in Prague?
You can see the palace and cathedral behind us. They had just turned on the lights to light it up. So beautiful!!On our last night in Prague they were having a tree lighting ceremony in the Old Town Square. Tia thought it would be a neat thing to make our way over and check it out. I distinctly remember stating that it would be really crowded and maybe we shouldn't. Apparently, every person in Prague comes to this thing. Once we got there we realized that we had put ourselves into quite the predicament. It was EXTREMELY crowded. We found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a tightly compacted crowd. A restless, pushing crowd. We were trapped and couldn't move much less get out. It was scary. I'm not gonna lie. I don't even have claustrophobia but I could feel a panic attack coming on. The tree lighting ceremony was beautiful but I just wanted it to be over so I could breathe again. This picture was taken when we still were having fun..right before we became sardines.

On our last night we went to a nice restaurant for a nice dinner with our fellow travelers from Explorica. Not many people know that Tia has some issues with meat. During our stay in Prague she wouldn't even let me buy a Coke light from a shop that had meat in it because maybe someone touched the bottle with meat juice on their hands. Like I said...meat issues. So she doesn't announce that she's a vegetarian to people. She just pretends to eat what is served to her and doesn't make a big deal about it. Well... the last night, at dinner, we are served duck. I guess it was duck. That's what we were told. Unfortunately, Tia and I got the giggles. It looked like they took the guts from the duck and served them with the cooked meat. Even I couldn't eat it and I don't have meat issues. Tia was so horrified and we ended up disgracing ourselves by sitting there giggling uncontrollably. I hate it when we do that! It's so embarrassing. The other people at our table just looked at us with blank looks on their faces. They don't know how we are, so they were confused. Sometimes we laugh. Hard. And can't stop.
Prague was amazing. Prague was wonderful. Prague is someplace that everyone should go and see. It's the hidden gem of Europe. When people think of going to Europe they think of Paris or London or Rome. They should be thinking "Let's go to Prague!" It is SO worth the trip. I loved every minute of it. Thank goodness I have the greatest husband in the world who lets me be me and takes care of the family while I go on my adventures! I can't wait for the next one....(*after I graduate!)

The Good Old Days

2008-10-14T19:30:00.008-07:00

Let me take you back to 1989. My best friend, Kristi, and I were madly in love with certain members of a boy band...namely the New Kids on the Block. Thats right. You heard me. I'm sayin it loud and proud. We were obsessed. Our walls were covered in posters. I used to stare at Jon as I fell asleep, thinking up ways we could meet. I was sure if I could just meet him that I could make him love me and I could have his babies. Nevermind that I was 14 years old. Little things like age don't matter when you're in love! We made them care packages and videos and traveled to Utah and San Diego to see them in concert! It was the greatest. Then they broke up and Kristi and I moved on with our lives. When they came in concert we knew we HAD to see them again and relive the glory days of our youth. Kristi has the greatest husband ever (if you don't count mine, of course) and he bought us tickets to go for Kristi's birthday! We went to dinner first at Texas Roadhouse....holy cow! I love their rolls and cinnamon butter! So it was a great start to the evening. Joey called just as we were pulling into the Jobing.com arena to remind me that we have a temple marriage and that he loves me way more than Jon ever could. Poor guy. He was a good sport about it. He asked if we were going to be throwing our bras up on stage and I told him we would try not to. I couldn't guarantee it.
It was so funny to see all the women in their early 30's just like us! A bunch of women who were as obsessed as we were 20 years ago! There were a couple long-suffering husbands that came along with their wives but mostly it was an arena full of ladies just like us! Too funny! Just our luck we sat next to two very drunk ladies. One even had to leave to throw up in the middle of the concert. What a waste! This was the view she presented us with. We couldn't see the stage well so we hopped some seats and moved to where we could see! It was so awesome! It brought back so many memories of those days! They sang a lot of their old songs as well as some new ones. My taste in music has evolved a lot since then but I still really liked their new songs! I haven't screamed and danced like that in I don't know how long. I felt 14 again! I don't know what kind of dance moves I was bustin out with but my calves are killing me today! It was so worth not going to bed until after 1:00a.m!

The New Kids ROCK! And I don't care what any of you haters say (you know who you are). Some of you may have read my sisters blog and be wondering how she could be so vengeful. Well, we love her anyways and are taking up a collection for therapy costs. It's called "issues". We've all got em. So give her a break!

A Brave, Brave Daddy!

2008-09-28T18:37:00.005-07:00

So as many of you know, I'm entering my 6th week of Nursing School. It's going great and I absolutely LOVE it! It's hard and I'm busier than I ever thought possible but I know it will be worth it. Thanks to everyone who has helped out...(you know who you are). With babysitting and dinners and offers to do laundry and run my kids to activities...the list goes on and on. THANK YOU! And to all those who have OFFERED to help out but I haven't used yet...don't worry! I have two years left. I'll use you and hopefully not abuse you!

So next week I have THREE tests. A lecture test on Monday. A dosage calculations test on Tuesday and a Vital Signs and Health Assessment Lab check off on Wednesday. I have to do well on all three to stay in the program. Saturday I spent the whole day studying. I was a nervous wreck trying to cram in massive amounts of information in a short space of time. Joey has been WONDERFUL about taking care of the kids while I lock myself in my room with my books and the computer. But it's still noisy and chaotic around here. So Joey decided to take the kids out of the house so I could have quiet. He told me he was going to take all the kids to the Diamondbacks game. I thought he was joking! ALL the kids? By himself? He said he could handle it and it would give me a few hours to study. So off they went. I was scared for him....

They stopped at Target first to buy notebooks for the girls to color and draw in (since they aren't big baseball fans) and also to buy stuff to make a poster. Joey is convinced that if you have a poster, you'll get on TV.... AND THEY DID! Unfortunately, the boys were in the team shop at the time but Joey, Avery and Adelle were all on TV for a good 5 seconds! We recorded it and have watched it a dozen times!

I got so much done while they were gone! I am beyond grateful for that quiet time. Even though it would have been fun to go with everyone to the game...I have to get through this. Thanks to the greatest husband in the world who lets me practice taking his blood pressure until his arm is numb and lets me practice doing physical assessments with only a few off color comments! Gotta love him!

Camping with Bommy and Grandpa

2008-09-28T08:07:00.005-07:00

My brave parents took Gage and Drey camping last weekend. Drey has not stopped talking about how much fun they had and all that they saw and did! Here a just a few of the many pictures that were taken.....

Racing stick boats........

Gage looks like he had a good conversation with his Grandpa!
Drey is that my sweatshirt you have on!!??
That looks safe. That was safe, right?
Drey's favorite part of the whole trip was definitely the cave!

Gage was horrified at Grandpas choice of beverage! Frankly, I have to agree with Gage.Thanks Mom and Dad for taking them! And thanks for taking so many pictures. I think we should all go next time. I think the girls would love that cave,too. As soon as my schedule clears (in a couple years) we'll go!

Catching up....

2008-09-20T12:26:00.004-07:00

This weekend Joey's old mission companion came into town for work. Maybe I should say "former" and not "old"...anyways...Joey took Friday off of work and they spent Friday and some of Saturday catching up. It had been a couple of years since we last got together. Delly was only 6 months old last time, I think. She looks like she doesn't want to have anything to do with him in the picture but actually she walked right up to him and shook his hand and said "Hi, Ray." It was so cute! It was a short but good visit! We need to make our way up to Las Vegas to see him and his family next time. It seems like they always come down here so I guess it's our turn. I just don't trust Joey around roulette tables. Crazy things can and have happened!

Family Pictures

2008-09-05T11:30:00.003-07:00

We were really long overdue for some updated family pictures. It was just unfortunate timing that we chose to have them taken outside in August. It was so stinkin HOT! We were all melting but in spite of it all we were able to get some great shots! Thanks BK! Yes....I know. That's just how he is.....
My Mom and Dad....I love this picture!Delly has one dimple on the right side of her mouth....this picture captures it perfectly!

Happy Labor-less day!

2008-09-01T19:56:00.004-07:00

I love a free day! No school. No work. It was wonderful. I needed it so bad just to catch up on my life! This afternoon we all gathered at my parents house for Eric's famous homemade pizza. He had a new creation to wow us with ...Bacon Chicken Ranch pizza....Holy Cow! Delish! I ate entirely too much...I know...so not like me! I don't know what came over me because usually my self control is limitless! I think we all indulged a bit too much. Bommy bought the new Little Mermaid movie for the girls to watch. Avery especially was SO excited! She LOVES the Little Mermaid. Pretzels anyone??In gatherings such as this one...it's all about the games. We love to play games. I bought a new one that we tried out called Urban Myth. We also played some Speed Scrabble and Rummykub. Good times. Good times. Drey is the only one of the kids that likes to play games with the grown ups. He's good, too! He can school us all at Speed Scrabble. Of course, he tends to use words like "poop" and "barf" and "butt". What can I say? I'm doing the best I can as his mother!
Thanks Mom for letting us come over and trash your house! I just realized that I left without helping to clean up....whoops-a-daisy! I hope we get invited back.

FIRST game of the season!!

2008-08-23T18:33:00.005-07:00

Gage has been so excited for today. He is playing in two leagues this fall..the regular league he has always been in and also a competitive travel league. Today was his first game at the Field of Dreams. Last night he came in our room and woke us up because he wanted to take some Tylenol PM. He was so excited he couldn't sleep! Of course I said "absolutely not"! When he woke up this morning he said he didn't sleep all night and to top it off I could tell he was sick. He was congested and coughing. He kept telling me he was fine and he didn't feel sick at all. I'm not stupid, however, and I know a sick kid when I see one. Finally he said "Mom, do I still get to play if I'm sick?" I told him that he could if he wanted to so he admitted that he was indeed not feeling good. I made him rest all morning and then gave him some medicine right before we left for the games (he had back to back games today). Right after I gave it to him I realized that I had done a not-so-smart thing in giving him medicine that would make him REALLY drowsy an hour before he had to pitch in the opening game! Crap! He pitched well at first but then you could tell something was wrong. He was moving really slow and I KNEW he was probably feeling pretty loopy out there. I feel so bad! I was only trying to help! Joey was appalled at me. Sorry! Geez! The coach pulled him out and let him rest a couple innings which was good. The Field of Dreams (is that what it's called?) is really nice. They have indoor seating with air conditioning (wonderful) and a snack bar (awful.. because it's a rip off...so expensive...plus they have Diet Pepsi instead of Diet Coke!) and an arcade to keep the kids busy. It's way different than sitting out in the heat on the burning hot bleachers like we're used to! My mom and dad and Tia came to support Gage. They all got a good laugh out of my misjudgement with the cold medicine. Ha Ha. I get it. I'm retarded.

Does anyone have some PROZAC that I could borrow?

2008-08-08T11:57:00.003-07:00

No. I'm not joking. I feel a full blown panic attack coming on! Today I went down to the school to purchase my textbooks for the Nursing program. There was a really nice man in the bookstore that helped me find all my books. As he was loading book after book onto the cart I asked him "So are these all the books I need for the WHOLE Nursing Program?" He just gave me a smile and a look of pity and explained that these were the books for Block 1 and that there were other books for Blocks 2,3 and 4. I could feel myself starting to sweat and my hands started to shake. I played it cool like...no big deal. I can read all these humongous books and comprehend all the concepts in four months. No sweat. He had to walk me out to the car with the cart because they were SO heavy. How am I supposed to get them all to class? I'm going to have to load them into a rolling suitcase to get from the car to the classroom! I'm losing it today. I don't know what the heck I am doing! Why am I putting myself through this?! It seemed like a good idea at the time...years ago when I decided to become a nurse! Now I'm feeling completely overwhelmed and STRESSED! I have total guilt...I just spent $800 on BOOKS! For the FIRST semester! Not to mention all the other money that has gone into this dream of mine....let's see...there was this semesters tuition...$950...I had to get CPR certified...$25...I had to get fingerprinted...$80..I had to have a complete physical and immunizations and drug tested...about $500...I had to buy a Nurse Pack (gloves, syringes, ect.)...$80...I had to by the uniform (which included these ugly white clog shoes!)...$250...I had to take an exam to just APPLY to the program...$25...and then there all all the pre-requisite classes and books that I have had to pay for over the years...I don't even know how much was spent but it was thousands! Especially since they kept changing the pre-req requirements. And I still have to pay for the next three semesters too! GUILT! Especially because Gage needs braces and we could be saving for missions and college educations and adding on to our house (which is SO needed). I wonder if I am doing the right thing here. Or am I being completely selfish. My kids are still little and I'm going to be taking my focus off them and turning it onto getting through with school. Avery has been begging me for months to put her in dance classes but I've been putting her off...I'm not going to have time!!! What kind of mother is that for ya!? When I was driving home from the bookstore I had to call Joey who calmed me down and reminded me to look at the big picture. Thank goodness he has faith in me and thinks I'm "the smartest person he knows." Cause I glanced through some of the books and am feeling pretty stupid right about now. He fully supports this or else there is no way I could do it. Plus I've got great family and friends willing to help out and babysit and run kids around to different activities and whatnot. Sheesh. I don't know why I'm whining.. But I feel better for venting!

Road Trip!

2008-08-05T15:57:00.006-07:00

Justin, Mindy, Tia and myself had to go to Idaho this week to paint a door. Most of my peeps already know that my sisters and I do faux finishing on custom made iron doors. Justin sells them. We paint them. We've been doing this over two years. We've had to go to far away lands like Heber and Showlow, Arizona to paint doors but never as far away as Idaho. I personally have never been to Idaho so it was an adventure. Road trips can be fun but especially long road trips can be torture. Nevertheless, I learned a lot of things on this trip...

I learned....

1. Swedish Fish claim to be "A Fat Free Food". This doesn't mean that you can consume an enormous portion of them and then proceed to sit and do NOTHING for hours and hours and not actually get fat. (My painting jeans were fitting a little snug when we finally arrived in Idaho.)

2. Mindy doesn't feel comfortable on a journey unless she has an Atlas within easy reach in which she can track our progress.

3. When starving, Justin can survive on sugar packets.

4. Idaho sells live bait from vending machines! That's just weird to me. Is that weird to anyone else?

5. When Mindy says she's going to share a large order of french fries with you what she really means is she will eat one or two and let you eat the rest because she doesn't like french fries. You think you know someone!

6. According to Mindy, I'm a good traveling partner. We spent many, many hours together in the back seat of the truck. She enjoyed the fact that I keep my space organized and litter free. You're welcome.

7. I'm too retarded to make waffles. The homeowners (of the door) put us up in a hotel that had the BEST waffles for breakfast. You had to make them yourself which seems easy enough until I made the biggest mess of it. Oops... they were SO GOOD!

8. Costa Vida is delicious. Unless you find a feather in your salad. Then it sucks. After painting until 9:00 p.m. one night we decided to eat at Costa Vida. It was tasting like a dream until poor Tia discovered a feather in her salad. I tried to keep eating my salad and ignore her find but it was hard because she kept poking at it and examining it. Pretty soon we all lost our appetite. I'm sure it's okay. Birds are pretty clean, right?

9. Mindy has to sit on the RIGHT side of the truck. I was happy to oblige. She started off on the left side but couldn't bear it.

10.I love the smell of tape! Oh wait. I already know that about myself. Mainly I enjoy Scotch tape but painters tape smells great too. Weird. I know. Sometimes I get caught sniffing tape. Whatever....we all have our issues.

BEFORE PIX:

AFTER PIX: (The faux finish doesn't show up too well in the picture. We did a bronze patina which turned out lovely.)

It was an exhausting four days but I finally got to see Idaho! We wanted to go river rafting while we were there but it wasn't meant to be....maybe next time!

Back to SCHOOL!

2008-07-28T20:04:00.002-07:00

Well, the summer draws to a close. We had a good one. The kids were all ready to go back to school and I was ready to get back into a routine. Avery has been waiting and waiting to get to wear some of her new school clothes and today she finally got to bust them out. She looked so CUTE and grown up! She started first grade today. Even though she's so tall she looks like she should be starting third grade. She wasn't held back! She's only SIX!I really wanted Drey to wear one of his "nicer" shirts to school on the first day but he insisted that he wear the Spongebob shirt. I decided to pick my battles with him. This one didn't seem as important so I let him wear the darn shirt. I DID make him change out of the shorts with a big bleach stain on the front. I have to draw the line somewhere. Come to find out...ALL the shorts we bought Drey for school are mysteriously too big. He tried them all on weeks ago when they were purchased, he said they fit, we took off the tags and washed them and put them away for school. Now he says they are too big. Hmmmmm. It's a mystery. I have a sneaking suspicion that he went in and PRETENDED to try them on but didn't really. Now he has basically no shorts (that don't have stains on them) to start the school year off with. This is irritating to me...I'll just leave it at that.Gage started Junior High school today. My BABY! I don't like this one bit!!! He was SO nervous. He kept asking me over and over if he matched. I told him he did and then he would go change. I guess he didn't believe me. He looked so cute! I wish he was a little less handsome...STAY AWAY girls!! He wanted me to go with him and help him find his classes. He couldn't go to Meet the Teachers night at the school because he was camping . He was nervous that he would get lost. I asked him FIVE times if he was sure that he wanted me to come with him early to the school. I didn't want to embarrass him after all. He insisted that he wanted me to come. So we went down to the school about 20 minutes before class was supposed to start. We weren't there 30 seconds and he said "I'm good, Mom. I'll find it." I was like " You don't want me to help you find the classrooms?" He quickly told me that he could do it and he would see me later. I think he didn't want to be seen with me!!! Of course, there were no other parents walking around so I don't blame him. I was nervous for him all day. Hoping he found his classes, hoping he had friends in some of them, hoping he didn't have to sit alone at lunch... oh man I remember Junior High. I wouldn't want to repeat that experience for a million dollars. Okay, maybe I would consider it for a million dollars. But not for less than that. It's a horrible awkward time. I think he'll be alright though.Delly wasn't too happy to have the kids abandon her today. All morning she would say "Where Sissy go?" I would tell her Sissy was at school. Then she would make a "pouty face" and stick her bottom lip out. A little while later she would say "Where Dreybee go? I would say he's gone to school too and she would do the thing with her lip. It was cracking me up! Poor kid lost all her playmates. Just boring old Mom now.

Camping trip with Grandpa

2008-07-28T12:20:00.004-07:00

Gage absolutely LOVES to go camping but unfortunately Joey is not a big fan. Ever since Gage came back from Scout camp (back in June) he has been begging to go camping. I guess he figured he would have a better shot at going if he hit up his Grandpa to take him. He was right! The kid is no dummy! He asked my dad on a Sunday and the very next Friday he took off work and took both our boys up to Riggs lake for a campout. Joey was going to suck it up and go with them (he says) but unfortunately (ya right) he had some meetings that he had to go to (uh-huh). My brother Brandon and his son Noah came along as well to join in the rain..I mean fun. Thank goodness they did because my brother took 197 pictures! Yeah! It was hard to choose which ones to post!Avery and Delly have been using Gage's tent as a "rocket ship" so somehow it got a big rip in it. Sorry Gage. My bad. We had to go buy a new tent and Gage was worried that he would have trouble setting it up. Looks like they did it okay. I heard that it rained ALOT but it looks like they had some dry spells.

I LOVE the picture of Gage above. It makes me wonder what is going on in that mind of his. He looks so introspective. I wish I could crawl into his head and look around a bit.

Who is that kid in the yellow sweatshirt that is being difficult and not posing for the picture? Cause I know that NO kid of mine would behave in such a fashion!
Thanks Dad A MILLION times! The boys had the greatest time...even Drey. Sorry if he gave you a run for your money....it's good for you. It builds character. BK- thanks for the AWESOME pictures! Love it!

Family Date Night

2008-07-11T21:22:00.011-07:00

Tonight was Friday night and this night is usually reserved for Joey and I to go on a date. However, we just went out two days ago for our anniversary so we decided to have a family date night instead. The kids were SO happy to get to go and do something out of the house! We decided to head over to Golfland where we proceeded to eat some surprisingly tasty pizza, played video games and a round of goofy golfing. Of course, the boys are so competitive that we can't just play for fun...there has to be a prize! After much debate, it was agreed that the winner of the 18 holes would NOT have to participate in the weekly Saturday chores in the morning. The winner could watch TV or play videogames while the rest of us do all the cleaning. This was a MAJOR prize for our kids...who think that Saturday morning chores are a horrible form of torture. I'm a big fan of Saturday mornings...but that's just me. We proceeded to start the game and right off the bat Drey was out of the running for the prize. He was so frustrated with himself so he announced that he was just playing for "fun". He wasn't really "trying" to win. That's why he wasn't doing well. He wasn't "trying." It was pretty funny! By the end it was a close call between Joey and Gage. Gage wanted it SO bad but Joey came through for me and won the game! YES! I have all my slaves...I mean workers in the morning! It would be especially hard to lose Gage who does jobs that the other kids are too young to do. It was a fun night and the kids are all worn out. They went right to bed when we got home with no stalling or complaints. That was worth it right there!

Happy 15th Anniversary!

2008-07-09T18:37:00.004-07:00

On July 9th, 1993 two dorky kids went into the temple in Mesa, Arizona and were sealed for time and all eternity. I was 18 and Joey was 23. First of all, who gets married at 18 years old!!?? I started dating him when I was 17! My girls better never try to pull a stunt like that! But I had to do what I had to do to be able to snag Joey for myself. My mom told me "Don't date a return missionary unless you're ready to get married." I was like "Oh brother, Mom. It's just a date. There's no way I'm getting married." A year later I was putting on my wedding dress! Turns out Mom wasn't as clueless as I thought! I can hardly believe that it's been 15 years since that day! I remember it like it was yesterday. Literally. Some things you just don't forget. I remember crying so hard during the ceremony...uncontrollably...I couldn't stop. I was so mad because I had spent so much time on getting my makeup just perfect! And then I had to go take pictures right after! It was just so overwhelming. It still is if I really think hard about it. Eternity is a long time after all. We had a great day today...just hanging out..just the two of us. Today is also my parents 37th wedding anniversary! Yes, we got married on the same day as them..just 22 years later. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Fourth of July BBQ /Swim Party/ Birthday Party

2008-07-05T18:34:00.005-07:00

For the Fourth of July we did something different this year. For the past few years we have gotten together with my side of the family so this year we celebrated with Joey's family. We had a BBQ at Granny and Pops house and had fun swimming and eating and eating and then we decided to eat. It was also Lexi's B-day so the kids got to hit on a pinata and LOADED up on candy. Thanks Nick and Coartney! My kids have been on a sugar high ever since! I finally had to hide the candy so they didn't go into a sugar coma. I think a fun time was had by all...even though the heat was unbearable! I must be getting heat sensitivity in my old age because I never remember whining so much about the heat as I have this year!

Delly thought it was pretty funny to swim with Papa Joe! That was a first for her!Thanks Cindy for bringing the poppers and other fun noise makers! We saw those in Sam's Club and Drey begged for them but I'm a mean Mom and wouldn't buy them. He was so happy that he got to explode things after all!

Year Supply System

2008-06-24T19:38:00.006-07:00

In the past, maintaining a year supply has been somewhat of a challenge for me. I would purchase all this food then store it under the beds and in the closets and in boxes and every once in awhile I would pull it out only to discover that it was all expired! It was really frustrating for me to waste all that money! So I came up with a better system that has REALLY been working for me so I thought I would share! See how nice I am? This may or may not work for everyone but it has worked for me really well.

When you buy food from the cannery it comes in these awkward big cans. You can't see what's inside so heaven help you if the label falls off. You can't tell if it's still looking good or if the color is changing and it's getting old. You don't know until you open the can! It doesn't store well on the shelf either..it takes up too much space. Then I found out about plastic P.E.T. cans. They come in all sizes and shapes. For my year supply I like to buy the square gallon ones. You can stack them side by side on the pantry shelf and they line up perfectly utilizing all the space on the shelf. This is a must when you have a smaller pantry like mine. If you buy the metal lids (not the plastic lids) and put a oxygen packet in with the food, it will seal airtight and preserve your food the same as if you canned it at the cannery! How great is that?

So here is my system. In my pantry, I have food labeled and dated that is STILL sealed all along the top and bottom shelves. I can stack them two deep and two high on the shelf.

Then I have one shelf that is reserved for containers of UNSEALED food that I am in the process of using. Rotating the year supply is key and this is always where I have failed miserably in the past. So I use one specific shelf to store my food that I'm using. When I finish a container, I open up a new one and put the empty one up on the top or bottom shelf. When I have a lot of "empties" of a particular food I know it's time to head to Sam's Club and restock. Below is a picture of my shelf of items "being used".

Now obviously I'm not able to fit my ENTIRE year supply in my tiny pantry. So I do store some of it under beds and in closets and whatnot. After I've made a trip to Sam's and restocked my empty containers, I pull out what ever food item it is from under the bed or wherever it is being stored and put the older food in the pantry and the newer recently sealed food under the bed or in the closet, ect...This way you are always rotating the supply and nothing sits in a closet expiring. Does this make sense? If you need further clarification, leave me a comment and I will try to explain myself better. It really is a good system if I do say so myself! And I LOVE the PET canisters. They are a little pricey (about $2.50 a piece) but if you buy them little by little it's not so bad. Plus they are totally washable and reusable over and over again. Just don't put them in the dishwasher unless you want a ball of melted plastic on your hands.

The oxygen packets I buy at the cannery and they are like $10 for 100 packets. Very reasonable. You just have to make sure you work quickly when you're sealing the lids because you don't want the packets exposed to air for too long. This is what they look like.

Anyways, I love my system. I rarely have to throw anything out because it's no good anymore. I can see the dates right on the canister so if I see that I have some spaghetti about to expire we'll start having lots of spaghetti to use it up. Today was a "refilling" day and Delly was my helper. Boy what a mess! She loves to take the spaghetti sticks and break them into a million pieces!

It's hard to get good pictures because it's a tight squeeze. I think you get the idea! Please excuse the messiness of the other shelves. I haven't developed a good system for everyday food yet!

Disneyland Vacation

2008-06-06T14:58:00.004-07:00

June comes so quick! It seems like we were just here, on vacation at Disneyland... and here we are again! I think next year we'll try something different, as fun as Disneyland is, it's time to do something else. We stayed at the Portofino Inn again this year because it's within walking distance and they have Kid Suites which have a separate room for the kids complete with TV and bunkbeds. It's great! The kids enjoy the pool, too, even though there's no diving allowed.Our first night we met up with Granny and Pop and went to the Pirates Dinner Adventure. What a treat that was! Papa Joe and all the kids got to go up on stage and participate in the show! Even Delly! It was so much fun! We were in the front row (which is probably why we were picked) so we had a great view!It's a family tradition to take a picture with the Indian. Joey has always done it with his family growing up so we just continued the tradition with our family. We have LOTS of pictures with "our" Indian! The first ride we went on was the Matterhorn. I waited with Delly and right when they were almost done with the ride, it broke. They sat here for quite awhile waiting for someone to come let them off. That's okay because I got this cute picture!

The girls LOVED the Alice in Wonderland ride! They wanted to do it again and again.....
We had a great time...the weather was unbeatable...78 degrees the entire time! It was perfect. It wasn't super crowded, nobody got lost or sick, we gorged ourselves on some delectable churros, we rode TONS of rides thanks to Ridemax (see my photo journal blog to find out more about Ridemax...it's wonderful!) And most important, we made tons of memories and got home SAFE and SOUND!

Happy Birthday to my MAN!

2008-05-27T07:37:00.009-07:00

I'm usually not into alot of "mushy" corny expressions of love. But today on Joey's birthday I feel like he deserves a tribute of some sort. So bear with me.....

Top 10 reasons why I love Joe Edwin Harris II...in no particular order.......

1. He loves me.

2. He brings me surprises. Usually in the form of some sort of chocolate or the occasional Apple Cinnamon muffin from Paradise Bakery. I like my surprises!

3. He calls me and texts me all day long to see how I'm doing and to ask what I need from him, whether it's if I need a fresh soda or if he needs to bring home anything from the store or to just tell me that he thinks I'm beautiful.

4.He always compliments me. Even when I'm not around to hear it. I hear from other people all the good things he says about me. It sometimes embarrasses me and I'm not real good with compliments but I'm working on just saying "Thank you" instead of "Shut up."

5.He makes me laugh. He makes me laugh HARD with the occasional need to RUN to the bathroom because I'm laughing so hard.

6. He will admit when he's wrong and apologize for it. Sometimes it takes me awhile to convince him that he's wrong but he always sees the light eventually and will apologize sincerely.

7. He works hard to support our family. At one time in our marraige he was going to school to get a Masters degree, teaching high school, teaching night school at the college and installing satellite dishes on weekends so that I could stay home with the kids and we would have a comfortable life. He works hard.

8.He knows everything about me and he still loves me. He loves me when I'm grumpy, when I'm stressed and not very nice, he loves me when I've gained 60 pounds during a pregnancy, and when I've cut my bangs.

9.He supports me. When I wanted to go back to nursing school, he never complained about how much it's costing or how much I have to be away. When I panic and decide that I'm not smart enough after all he builds me back up and tells me I can do it.

10. He writes me love letter and poems. I have boxes full of them. 16 years worth.

11. ( I know it's the top ten but I have to include this too...cause it's a big one.) He takes me on adventures. He knows how much I love to travel and see the world so he finds a way to make it happen for me. We've been all over the world together...Chile, Mexico, Italy, France, England, Monaco, Spain, Scotland, Greece, Turkey...and of course all over the USA. Below are some of my favorite pictures from our world travels together....

In Paris...the city of love!This is us in Paris in front of the Louvre.......................Disregard the crazy person. Some people.
In Scotland at Loch Ness....looking for Nessie!

On the top of Mars Hill in Athens............. Some where in the south of France at some cool Roman Aquaducts...........

Kidnapping me and taking me into a castle at Carcassonne (France).......
In front of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain.........
In front of Buckingham Palace in London...................
My favorite picture of all time is of us in Rome but I can't find it! Oh well... you get the idea.... we've seen a lot and been through a lot together and I wouldn't want to have these adventures with anyone else!He's my bestest friend in the whole world! I LOVE YOU JOEY! (There, I was mushy and corny and I survived)

Give me a "Lubby"!

2008-05-25T19:08:00.003-07:00

Having little girls is the greatest! Delly is a lover and a half. She will give out kisses all day long. All you have to do is ask. Sometimes she will say "I need a lubby." Lubby in Delly talk is "lovey" which means a kiss. I love to give LUBBYS!

Perfect Attendance!

2008-05-24T20:12:00.004-07:00

For the second year in a row, Drey had perfect attendance! The kid almost never gets sick! And when he does he usually doesn't say anything about it. He just goes on with his day. Usually, I don't know he's even sick. He doesn't say anything or complain or whine at all! It sounds good but sometimes it's not. Sometimes I need to know he's ill so I can take care of him. A few years ago he said " Mom, I can't really swallow." I was like "Really? Let me see." I looked in his throat and saw massive swelling and redness. I immediately took him to the doctor who took one look in his throat and told us we needed to get to the hospital ASAP because Drey's tonsils were SO bad that his airway was about to be completely closed because of the swelling. We went to the hospital where they did an emergency tonsilectomy to open his airway. The doctor was like "Why didn't you bring him in sooner!!?" I told him that Drey never mentioned feeling sick until that morning. He looked at me like I was lying. He said "This kid has been sick for a long time for it to get this bad." I felt so bad for not noticing he was sick but he REALLY never said anything about it. He's just tough. He probably was sick this year sometime but I just never noticed and sent him to school. I'm a really good Mom, huh? It's all good because he got a certificate for a free frozen yogurt from Jubilee. So we went and celebrated his accomplishment with him. He was pretty proud. He kept telling Gage "You know you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me."

The End of an Era...

2008-05-19T09:21:00.004-07:00

I never thought I would be able to do it....but here I am in week 4 of not watching Days of our Lives! Woo-hoo! It all started when I brought Gage home from the hospital as a newborn, 12 years ago. For the first time in my life I was home ALL day long. I didn't have to be at school or at work or running around with my friends. I was at home, alone, with a little person that slept all day. That's when I got hooked on the soap Days of our Lives. It was so addicting....I HAD to know what happened! I hated it when I missed an episode (this was PRE-DVR). Once we got our dish and I could record all my shows to watch later, it was easy to get behind. Last month, Joey sat me down on the couch to have a "show-intervention". He scrolled down the list of recorded shows (all mine except for Lost which belongs to both of us) and I had like 44 hours of shows that I had recorded but just not had the time to watch. There were 30 HOURS of Days of our Lives recorded! Lets face it, it's Monday thru Friday so it adds up quick! We talked about it and somehow he was able to convince me to "let Days go." His powers of persuasion sometimes amaze me! Anyways, I realized that with nursing school getting ready to start that I really needed to cut back on the TV shows. They were almost a burden because it was just one more thing "to do". Gotta catch up on Days! I couldn't do it so I had Joey delete ALL thirty hours of Days! I also trimmed the fat on some of my other shows...Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor, and a few others. I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I really miss Days! I'm DYING to know if John got his memory back or if Max ever was able to tell Stephanie that he loved her (really, Max, it's not that hard!) or if EJ gets deported or if Kayla loses her baby! I know. I'm pathetic. So as a tribute to an era of my life, I added "These are the Days of our Lives" to my Blog title. My life is sometimes better than a soap opera anyways!

Our Family Tree is Full of Nuts!

2008-05-14T10:46:00.003-07:00

To have a family picture where all the kids (and some of the adults) are actually cooperating and facing forward and smiling (for the most part) and no one is crying or trying to run away (except for the dogs) is a freaking miracle! It really is too bad than none of us got the memo to dress up because this really would have been a perfect time! Oh well....

Happy Mothers Day

2008-05-11T15:40:00.007-07:00

Generally, I look forward to Mothers Day all year. It's a day I get cute notes and what not from my kids and everyone treats me like a queen. It's the greatest. This year was no exception. All the kids made cute little notes and crafts for me. Avery made me a cute watermelon bell but unfortunately Delly decided she wanted to take a bath with it so all the paint came off. Joey and I were going to go out for a Mothers Day "special evening" last night but Joey ended up having to go out of town for work. He was gonna try to make it back early so we could still go but it just didn't happen. It actually works out pretty good for me because now he has guilt and wants to make it up to me. Of course, I can't resist throwing in a few comments like "Really, honey, I don't mind. You have your priorities. Work is important to you. I can wait." Just twisting the knife a little. Then when he finally did make it home last night he was exhausted. I could tell just by looking at him. He took a shower and started to get dressed. I asked him where he was going and he said he had to "do" something. I'm no dummy and I know my husband pretty well so I had an inkling that he hadn't gotten me anything for Mothers Day and he was gonna sneak off to try to do some late night shopping. I told him to get in bed and that I didn't need a present. He was like " No, no, no, it's just not right. I need to go. I'll be right back." Finally, I convinced him that his present to me could be to NOT get killed tonight by falling asleep at the wheel. So he went to bed after promising me that he was gonna "make it up to me." I love it! The power!

This morning we all gathered at Granny Harris house for a Mothers Day breakfast. It was delightful! Kim makes a mean waffle and Cindy...I like your bacon. Don't worry. It's a fine line between burnt and undercooked. I struggle with that myself! I ate so much I was happy that I had sweat pants on. Elastic waistbands are sometimes a beautiful thing. By the time Sacrament meeting started later that morning I felt like I was about to go into a food coma, I was so sleepy!

Avery was so excited to "help" Granny open her presents and show her the card that we all made for her. For dinner we headed over to my moms house. The Tucson Beecrofts made it up for a visit and we took some family pictures. We didn't get the memo that we were having a family picture so we woke up from our Sunday naps, threw on some wrinkly T-shirts, and headed over for dinner. So we're all looking pretty ghetto in the family pictures! Oh well. My mom wanted roast beef tacos for dinner.. Mindy busted out with some quality bean dip....my sister tried to steal my thunder by bringing strawberry shortcake for dessert when we all knew that I was bringing dessert. Nobody wanted my strawberry cake with lemon frosting. They all wanted HER shortcake. I'm okay with it, though. If she needs to do that to build herself up, it's okay. We're still friends. It was a great dinner and a great Mothers Day!
I could NOT decide what to get my mom for Mothers Day. I was at a complete loss this year. Then I saw the orchids at Sams Club and I knew! They were absolutely gorgeous and I knew she would love them. I took them home and the more I looked at them the more I loved them! You know you love someone when you buy them a gift that YOU want to keep so bad but you give it to them anyways! Hope you enjoy them, Mom! It's for the best that you have them because now they have a chance to stay alive!

FHE at the Temple

2008-05-07T12:11:00.004-07:00

I thought I posted these pictures already but I guess I hit the "Save Now" button instead of the "Publish Post" button. Whoops! Oh well- a little late but still cute!

For Family Home Evening this week we went out to dinner at Someburros (dee-lish) with Joeys mom and then we went to the temple. I just happened to have my camera with me so I got some cute shots of the kids and Granny Harris.

We went in to the temple visitor center to see if we could see a movie but none were playing. When we walked in Delly saw the huge statue of Christ and said "Too big Jesus!" and tried to run out the door. Joey had to hold her because she was so scared. She wouldn't look, just kept her head buried in his chest. We listened to the little message that is given and I looked over at Drey and tears are streaming down his face! I thought "What happened? Did I miss something? I thought he must have acted out in some way and got a thump on the head from his Dad while I wasn't paying attention. So the little presentation ended and I went over to him and said "Drey? What's wrong?" And he said "I don't know!! I think I feel the Spirit or something!" It made me want to laugh! That boy has such a hard shell on the outside that I forget what a soft inside he has. He's like a turtle...or an M & M! Joey talked to him about what he was feeling for awhile and then we proceeded further into the visitors center to see the Reflections of Christ exhibit. That was pretty sweet!
The girls were being quite disruptive (weird, I know) so I took them outside while everyone else wandered around for a bit longer. We saw quite a few couples taking pictures and Avery LOVED seeing the "princesses" in the white dresses. I think a good time was had by all.
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Mothers Day

2008-05-07T12:06:00.002-07:00

I just remembered that Sunday is Mothers Day! So, Mom, you get to decide what you want. We'll do the poll next week. This week, you pick, anything you want and we'll cook it! ( I didn't forget about Mothers Day by the way...it's my favorite day of the year! I was just confused. )

To all the Beecrofts/Richards/Cox and Harris Families

2008-05-05T15:48:00.003-07:00

Hey all you party peeps. As we discussed last night at dinner, I have put a poll on my blog so we can make Sunday dinner preparations a little more organized. Please vote on what you want to eat that night. Nobody sent me any suggestions so I just came up with some that sounded good to me. Don't forget to vote! If you don't bother then we will be tuning a deaf ear to any and all complaints and/or grumbling. I have the poll set to end Saturday but do you think we should end it Friday night so that we know what we are doing by Saturday morning when most of us go to the grocery store? I think it will be a good thing. Tucson Beecrofts are welcome to vote, too but that means you have to grace us with your presence on Sunday evening...and you get a food assignment, too.

Enter to Win!

2008-05-05T13:22:00.002-07:00

Enter a drawing to win this framed picture! Check out the link on my sidebar (Matage Framing) for details. You can't win if you don't play!!

My fruit basket is FULL!

2008-05-03T14:37:00.002-07:00

Okay. I just have to spread the word about something that is making me SO happy! I found out about this Food Co-op from my friend Elise. It's called Bountiful Baskets. ( see my link on the sidebar) It's WONDERFUL! For $15 dollars you get a laundry basket FULL of fresh fruits and veggies. Maybe you haven't noticed but produce is expensive! Especially when you have kids that devour fruit and veggies like mine do. So every other Saturday you just go pick up your basket full of yummy good stuff. I brought it home and literally FILLED my fruit basket AND the veggie bins in the fridge. Both were empty because I hadn't been shopping all week. Drey saw all the good stuff and said "Wow! Can we have a fruit and veggie dinner tonight?" That might be kind of fun actually! We'll see. So check it out. It's a great deal!